The Locket
by Fantastical Chaos
Summary: The Underground is divided. Evil lurks in the darkness as hope slowly fades away. Only a human, a monster, and a dead prince can restore this corrupt kingdom, but not if it corrupts them first.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Undertale. The world and characters of Undertale belong to their creator Toby Fox; I merely borrowed them for non-profit entertainment purposes. However, I do claim ownership to the cover art and words below. Please enjoy.**

* * *

 **Part 1**

 **The Human**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1**_

Gold consumed her. Golden flower petals engulfed her, swallowing her in their sweet embrace. Golden sunlight rained down, entering from the hole in the mountain from which she fell.

Forcing her achy body to sit upright, the child took in her surroundings. As to be expected from inside a mountain, there wasn't much to see. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks everywhere. She looked down. The golden flowers, as well as their green leaves and the grass below, where the only signs of life. The greenery was thick and deep. Even after she rose to her feet, the flowers stopped at her waist.

They must have broken her fall.

Another moment of observation revealed no way out from which she came, but there was a path to an ancient-looking doorway. The child forced one foot in front of the other, her heart racing in her chest. Narrow was the pathway, darkness growing as she traveled further inside Mt. Ebott.

She didn't know what she expected when she climbed the mountain, but this wasn't it.

Past the doorway, the child held her breath at the sight of a lone flower. She approached it only so closely before her feet, without warning, became like lead. As odd as it was that this golden flower wasn't with the others, that wasn't what made the child stop where she stood. What forced her to halt was that the flower had a face.

"Howdy!" the floral greeted, its tone cheerful and welcoming. "I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower! Heeheehee. . . ."

The child gulped, lost for words. She couldn't figure it out, but something about this flower's friendliness didn't feel right. This wasn't right.

"You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?" Flowey asked. The child's only answer was a stiff nod. "Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"

Then, without warning, everything went dark. The child couldn't explain it, but something about what was going on didn't feel . . . _there_. Before the child floated a little red heart, levitating so near that the child could reach out and touch it if she wanted to.

"See that heart?" Flowey asked despite the child staring at the subject. "That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!"

 _My . . . soul?_ the child questioned. It looked so delicate, so fragile, as if it would break into tiny little pieces at any minute.

"Your soul starts off weak," Flowey continued, "but can grow strong if you gain a lot of Love. You want some Love, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" The flower winked. The blackness faded away, and the flower and child were back amidst the ruins. The heart vanished with the blackness. "Down here, Love is shared through . . . little white . . . 'friendliness pellets.'" The little white pellets the flower described now floated around the plant. "Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!"

The child couldn't move as the pellets hurled towards her. It was as if her shoes were nailed to the floor. She didn't have to move around to try to get as many as possible – they were all shooting straight for her.

When they hit, burning pain soared through every fiber of her being. They sliced through skin and pierced into her body. Blood began to flow freely. Crying out in pure agony, the child fell to her hands and knees. Droplets of tears and blood dropped to the ground below.

"You idiot."

Despite the fiery pain that demanded she not move, the child tilted her head up. She sucked in a breath. Flowey no longer looked friendly. His face had changed from something innocent to a sight of terror. With a wide, sharp-toothed grin, Flowey stared at the child with murderous joy in his eyes.

"In this world," he went on to say, "it's kill or _be_ killed. Why would _anyone_ pass up an opportunity like this?!" More pellets rose from the ground and circled the child.

Her heart caught in her throat. One more hit like the first, and there would be no hope of survival. "Please," she whispered, though she didn't know what she was asking.

With black eyes and a crooked smile, all Flowey had to say was, "Die." He crackled as the pellets slowly came towards her, finishing the job.

"Please," the child whispered again, now knowing what she wanted. To be spared was too much to hope for, but there would be mercy in a quick death. However, it seemed the evil flower had no interest in mercy.

The child squeezed her eyes shut as she awaited her miserable end. Flowey's laughter would be the last thing she ever heard. Fear would be the last thing she ever felt.

 _I don't want to die._ The child thought. She gritted her teeth. _I_ won't _die._

Filled with determination, the child pushed herself to her feet. The pellets continued to close in. Flowey kept laughing. There was no way of escape, but the child was filled with too much hope to give up.

Just as the pellets were about to sear what was left of her, they disappeared as suddenly as they came. The child looked at Flowey to see why he stopped, but the flower was just as confused as she. Before he could say anything, a fireball shot from behind and knocked the flower to the back of the room, and the child snapped her head in the direction Flowey flew. The child gulped as she slowly turned back around. Whatever was strong enough to so easily get rid of Flowey was bound to be far worse.

What stepped forward was a white monster taller than any adult the child had ever seen. The monster had a goat-like face, long ears, and small horns on the top of its head. Its fur was pure white, like snow freshly fallen from the night before, and it wore a blue dress with white sleeves and a symbol on the breast.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. . . ." the monster said, its voice deep, feminine, and surprisingly kind. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child," the monster now said, her eyes on the human before her. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time." Toriel said that last part with a hint of sadness in her motherly voice. She then perked up. "Come! I will guide you through the catacombs."

Offering her hand, Toriel smiled at the small child. The child, afraid and injured and not knowing where else to go or what else to do, reached for the furry fingers. As Toriel's hand closed around the child's, she whispered, "Thank you."

Toriel smiled. "And what is your name, my child?"

"Frisk." The child looked hard at Toriel. "My name is Frisk."

"What a wonderful name," Toriel replied.

Frisk didn't notice it at first, but hanging from Toriel's neck was a locket. The red heart made itself at home on Toriel's breast, yet something about it saddened Frisk. It was almost as if there was a tragic tale to the insignificant piece of jewelry that called out to Frisk, only she was unable to hear it.

* * *

"Do you ever feel as if you're ready for something new?" Frisk asked as she lay swallowed inside the mass of golden flowers. The sunlight, falling through the hole in the mountain, warmed her with its sweet embrace. "Do you just feel yourself craving change so badly, yet at the same time you don't know what kind of change you're hungry for?"

Holding her hands out in front of her, Frisk studied her long fingers. Brown skin, chocolate eyes, and even darker hair – sometimes she felt out of place in the purple ruins with its predominately white monsters. "I have lived here for eight years," she continued, "and I have always felt content. Until recently, that is." She turned her head so that she faced whom she spoke to. "What do you think?"

The Froggit stared unblinking at Frisk. "Ribbit," it eventually croaked before jumping away.

"Of course," Frisk muttered. She shook her head before returning her attention to the hole she fell through as a child, forever trapping her underneath Mt. Ebott. Legend had it that any human who climbed the mountain was never seen again, which was the reason Frisk climbed the mountain that day so long ago. Of all the things she expected, monsters living underground was the last thing that would have ever crossed her mind. Now this was her home.

"Frisk?"

Sitting up, Frisk responded to the voice that called out to her. "Yes, Mom?"

Toriel approached Frisk, a warm smile on her face. "You have been gone for too long, my child," the white monster told her human daughter. "Do not think you can get away from your studies. There is still work to be done before dinner."

"Sorry." Frisk rose to her feet and picked up her backpack, which was carelessly tossed to the side. "I lost track of time, but I did finish my math problems before I began daydreaming."

"As long as you didn't neglect your studies." Toriel turned. "Now come. It will be night soon, and I don't want either of us staying up later than necessary."

There was no hesitation in Frisk to obey her adopted mother. She trusted Toriel more than she trusted anyone, even her own self. If Toriel told Frisk to do something, no matter how strange or difficult that it might be, Frisk believed with all her heart Toriel meant it for Frisk's own benefit.

As she followed Toriel, Frisk noticed something odd about her mom. Around Toriel's neck was the red heart locket Frisk had only seen her wear two other times. The last time she had seen Toriel with the locket, Toriel appeared ashamed to be caught wearing it. Something about that locket had to do with the secrets Toriel hid. Frisk had asked questions here and there as a child but soon gave up when she saw how asking them really hurt her new mother. In moments such as this, Frisk wondered if she should ask again now that she was older, or if she should just accept that she shall never, ever know the bits of Toriel's past that continued to haunt the monster.

Frisk decided the latter. If there was ever a time to ask, it was not now. Maybe one day she will learn the whole truth, but that day was not today. For now, her focus would be on trying to convince her mother of something she had been trying to tell Toriel for years.

"These puzzles are so easy, I can do them with my eyes closed," she told Toriel as she covered her eyes and walked along the spike floor. She sensed Toriel turn around and watch in horror as Frisk did just that without making a single mistake. When Frisk opened her eyes, she felt a little pride in seeing Toriel trying to not look impressed.

"That's because you have walked through here nearly every day for years," Toriel replied as she shook her head at Frisk. "Of course the puzzles would be easy for you now, but remember how difficult they were when you first came here? Definitely not eyes-closed simple, I would say."

"Heh-heh." Frisk looked away, finding the walls suddenly interesting.

The first time she walked through the Ruins, Toriel left Frisk behind after testing the child's independence. Although she learned shortly after that Toriel did so in order to prepare her home for the new addition, Frisk still deemed those moments the scariest she's had since coming to the Underground. She tried to journey the Ruins herself, and almost cried a time or two at how difficult some of the puzzles were. However, her tears were those of frustration – she always liked puzzles for as long as she could remember, but they lose their charm when one is surrounded by monsters and is trying to get away as quickly as possible. She found the way to Toriel's home eventually, but not without new cuts and bruises from monsters who saw her as a threat.

"If the puzzles were hard for you the first time," Toriel continued, both with the conversation and with her trek home, "they would be hard for anyone new. There's no sense in changing them if the only purpose in doing so is to give you a challenge."

"But didn't you say that I should challenge myself?" Frisk asked, jogging until she was walking side-by-side with Toriel. "Didn't you used to tell me that if I wasn't being challenged, then I wasn't learning; and if I wasn't learning, then I wasn't growing? 'You don't want a plant to stay within a small pot,' you would say. 'You want the plant to grow into a tree large enough for birds and squirrels to build their nests in.'"

Toriel laughed. "Do you really remember my telling you all that?"

"You had to say something to convince me to finish my homework no matter how hard I found it." Frisk grinned. "So, is that a yes in remodeling the puzzles?"

"No."

"Would you at least think about it?"

Again, Toriel shook her head. They went through the puzzle in which they needed to fall through the floor and take the stairs to the other side of the trap. When they emerged from below ground, Toriel answered, "I don't know why you are so insistent on this, but if you truly like puzzles so much, then I will let you design blueprints for the possible replacements."

Frisk's eyes lit up. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course, my child." Toriel looked away. "Of course."

Noticing the frown upon Toriel's face, Frisk reached out and took her mother's hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, my child." Toriel squeezed Frisk's fingers. "You're just growing up so fast. I don't know how much longer it will be until I lose you."

"You won't lose me. I'm always going to be your daughter."

"Yes, you always will be my daughter," Toriel agreed, "but I can sense you're growing restless. Tell me, Frisk, do you desire to leave the Ruins?"

The question had caught Frisk off guard. Once, back when she first fell, she had asked Toriel how to leave the Ruins. Toriel merely dodged the question, and Frisk found herself soon giving up and never again speaking of it. There was nothing for her to return to, so it didn't make sense for Frisk to attempt returning to where she came. She found a mother in Toriel – a family she never knew she wanted and didn't desire to leave now that she found it.

She used the time to push the rock onto the leaver to drop the spikes to think about her answer. "I don't know what I want, to tell you the truth," Frisk replied as she and Toriel came to the second cracked floors puzzle. They got through this puzzle without a single incident. "Maybe I do want to leave, but I can't see myself doing so." Frisk shook her head. "I'm not going to leave. I won't. There's nothing for me out there."

Toriel didn't answer right away. Instead she sighed, her shoulders dropping and her head lowering. "I can't protect you forever," she whispered so quietly that Frisk was certain that she was not meant to hear.

Instead of asking for an explanation, Frisk allowed the rest of the journey home to remain in silence. Toriel acted as if one in deep thought, and Frisk found herself resisting the urge to turn around to see who was following them. Although she could not explain it, Frisk knew that she and Toriel were not taking this walk alone.

* * *

It happened three days later. Frisk had returned from her trip to the beginning of the Ruins early. As she set her backpack down by the door, she called out, "Mom? Mom, where are you?"

No answer. Frisk shrugged it off. While Frisk took her daily trips, Toriel took her own. Toriel's absence was nothing to worry about, even if these trips used to scare Frisk a lot when she was younger and didn't like to be left alone.

Pulling her collarbone length hair into a high ponytail secured with the white ribbon Toriel had given Frisk for her birthday that year, Frisk began to take out ingredients from the fridge in hopes of surprising Toriel with a homecooked meal upon her return. She searched the kitchen for Toriel's cookbook, but it was nowhere to be found. Frisk checked the bookshelves in the cozy sitting room, but the collection of recipes wasn't there either.

As she tied her apron around her waist, Frisk made her way to Toriel's room. It was the only place left she could think of to search for the book. If she could not find it, Frisk hoped that she could remember the measurements of the ingredients correctly.

Frisk knocked in case Toriel really was home and simply had not heard Frisk announce her arrival. The lack of response was Frisk's permission to enter. As she expected, the cookbook was on Toriel's desk, opened to a blank page as a pen rested in the spine. Her mother loved collecting new recipes, but she had a bad habit of writing them down before trying it out to decide whether or not she and Frisk actually liked the food.

The book was in Frisk's hands for only a second before she set it back down. There, by the edge of the desk, was the red locket she had seen so few times but always remembered. It was the first time Frisk had ever seen it not around Toriel's neck, and it might be the only time she would get to look at it.

After looking down the hallway to make sure Toriel had not yet returned, Frisk reached out to take the locket. Her fingers hovered over the jewelry for a moment before she pushed herself to pick it up. The locket was cool to the touch and was a little bigger than the size of Frisk's palm. Half a minute of inspection revealed that the locket was meant to be worn by a child. It was red with the words _Best Friends Forever_ etched in gold, and it didn't appear to be made of any precious material.

"Why would she hold onto this?" Frisk wondered aloud as she imagined a younger Toriel having a best friend she lost sometime between childhood and adulthood. It may have been her imagination, but as Frisk wrapped her fingers around the locket and held it close to her, she could feel it beating as if it were alive.

Frisk was about to set it down, but she stopped with the heart locket hovering above the desk. For reasons she couldn't describe, the desire to wear the locket overcame her. Like any little girl presented with jewelry, cheap or otherwise, the impulse to put it on hit her strongly. It was a silly reason to try on the mysterious necklace, but Frisk knew she might not get the chance again.

Using up more willpower than one would have thought, Frisk threw the locket's chain around her neck and let the locket rest on her. Suddenly it felt heavy, and the beating became more noticeable. Frisk passed the feelings off as paranoia, choosing to instead study in the mirror how the locket looked on her. Reaching up to hold the locket in her hand, Frisk wondered why Toriel kept such a useless necklace hidden away all these years.

"You're the child that monster replaced me with?"

Heart skipping a beat, Frisk let the locket fall back onto her chest and spun around so fast that she nearly toppled over. A scream built up inside her, but it was caught in the lump that appeared in her throat. There was a boy in Toriel's room. A human boy.

His piercing hazel eyes were the first thing Frisk noticed. The boy looked to be only a little older than she, but he glared at her with a hatred too intense for someone her age. He had pale skin, bright pink cheeks, and light brown hair cupping under his chin. The outfit he wore was ebony pants, gray shoes, and a dark blue sweater with a dark gray stripe running horizontally through the middle.

When the boy didn't make any move of attack, Frisk swallowed her fear and asked, "Who are you?"

Grinning like a cat about to capture its prey, the human answered, "Greetings, Frisk. I am Chara."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter_ _2_**

Eyes narrowed as she studied the drawing in her hands, ten-year-old Frisk looked up at Toriel and asked, "Are you sure this picture looks good? I think it looks stupid."

"Don't say stupid, Frisk." Toriel smiled to herself as she shook her head. "You did a fine job drawing our home. The picture isn't ruined because you didn't color in the lines as well as you hoped."

"But I'm not a little kid. I should be able to color in the lines." Frisk resisted the urge to crumple the paper. She sat on Toriel's bed with her legs criss-crossed as she set the more recent drawing aside and studied the items Toriel laid out. It was mostly clothes, boxes, and a collection of drawings Frisk had made for her mother. Toriel never threw a single one away.

"Think of it as a new art style, then," Toriel suggested. "Don't feel as if you need to limit yourself to fit into someone else's rules over how things should be done. Always choose to be creative, and more importantly, always choose to be yourself."

Too young to fully appreciate the advice given to her, Frisk huffed as she picked up the stack of drawings Toriel left on her bed. The motherly monster continued to clean out her closet, unaware of Frisk's shifting through the pile of childhood art. Frisk looked through each drawing. They got sloppier and simpler as she went through, documenting how far she had really come as an artist since first living with Toriel.

Yet as she kept going, the drawings began to get better than her childish hand would ever be capable of creating. Lifelike positioning, realistic shading, and vibrant colors made each world so real that Frisk almost believed that she could reach out and feel the petals of the golden flowers trapped within the canvas. While Toriel payed her attention to the boxes at the top of her closet, Frisk kept hers directed towards the paintings and sketches.

When she came to the last one, Frisk was disappointed to see a simple drawing of a yellow flower. It had six petals, a long, green stem, and two large leaves. In the corner it read the following:

 _Happy Mothers Day!_

 _To Mother_

 _From Chara_

Frisk frowned. _Who's Chara? And why did Toriel take his mother's present?_ She looked at the picture more closely. The condition of the paper indicated that it was well aged, and the fading colors showed that this picture had been drawn years prior. Yet it was well cared for, as if Toriel always kept it in a safe place and removed it only when necessary. Such as now when she cleaned out her closet for, as she put it, "the first time in ages."

Looking at Toriel, who was now setting down the last box from the top of the closet, Frisk asked, "Mom, who's Chara?"

Toriel froze so that she stood as still as stone. Ever so slowly, she turned her attention towards Frisk to find the child with all the pieces of art laid out before her. Moving as if her limbs were too heavy, Toriel approached the child and carefully took the drawing out of her hands. "That is nothing for you to concern yourself with, my child," Toriel answered not unkindly as she collected the rest of the pictures. "Do not speak that name again."

"Yes, mom," Frisk didn't hesitate to reply, not wanting to displease her mother.

Now, as who she assumed was this same Chara standing before her, Frisk wished she had not been so willing to obey. The human boy looked at her as if she were a bug he was waiting to squash. Although she didn't know him, Chara seemed to know perfectly well who she was.

"What?" he asked, single brow raised. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"I don't know where to begin." Frisk quickly shook her head. Perhaps she was dreaming, and when she woke up, the boy would be gone. She stopped and looked in his direction again. Chara was still there. "How did you get in here?"

Chara chuckled. It was not a happy sound. "I have always been here," he said, the words bitter and almost venomous. He pointed at her chest. "All this time, I was never far from you, trapped within that locket. It is the vessel of my soul. Wherever it is, I am also. Whoever wears it, my company will be worn as well."

Pinching her brows together, Frisk mumbled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't." Chara growled in his throat. "How can you begin to understand when you don't even know who I am?"

"Then answer this." Frisk slowly approached Chara, fear melting away. He was the first human she had seen in years. There was a need growing inside her, one she always had but never dared acknowledge. Now that this boy was here, the need consumed her. The need for another human, someone like her, in this world of monsters. Although logic warned this boy could be dangerous, the emotional pull was too strong. "Who are you, Chara? Why is your soul attached to this locket like you say it is? Why have I never seen you before now?"

Frisk must have gotten too close, for Chara jumped away from her and glared at her to stop walking. Frisk obeyed. When he saw that Frisk was waiting to hear his reply, Chara said, "You are not the first human Toriel has adopted. I am. I am her son. She failed to protect me, and now I'm cursed to be fused with that heart locket. Only the wearer can see and hear me. To everyone else, it's as if I don't exist." Chara sneered. "To you, I never existed until now."

"But why would Mom hide you from me?" Frisk asked. It was the wrong thing to say.

"I am her greatest shame!" Chara roared. It made Frisk flinch. "I died, and she was unable to stop my death from happening. Not that it mattered – I deserved to die. Regardless, she had a monster magically fuse my soul with my old locket so that I could continue to live on. For years I have been existing in this half-life. Then you came along. To Toriel, I began to cease being. You were her new child, and I the mistake she wishes she could take back. She's trying to protect you. However, she knows she can't protect you forever. Sooner or later you will be found, and he will take your soul just as he tried to take mine."

The words were too much to process. None of it made sense. All Frisk could do was shake her head. "I still don't understand."

"What are you? Thick?" Chara wrinkled his nose. "Every human that has fallen into the Underground has been killed. I was the first and not the last. You're next. Didn't Mother Toriel teach you anything about how things work around here, or did you let her lead you to believe that everyone here is your friend and that to survive all you have to do is be nice?"

Before Frisk could respond, Toriel walked into the room. "Frisk, what are you doing-" She cut herself off when she saw the locket hanging from Frisk's neck. Covering her mouth, all Toriel could say was, "I forgot to put that away."

"Mom . . ." Frisk took in a shaky breath. "Is everything Chara telling me true? How many humans fell to the Underground? How many of them are still alive?" The last question was hard to ask. "Am I in danger?"

Tears falling from Toriel's eyes, the monster said, "I never wanted to scare you, but now I see that I have let you live blind to the world around you."

Frisk felt blood drain from her face. "How bad is it? How dangerous is it to be a human?"

"Very." Toriel chose her next words carefully. "Every human that has come here and left the Ruins has died. I could not save any of them. Not even Chara, my own son." Chara growled in disgust, but Toriel truly must have not been able to hear for she continued as if he made no sound. "You were different, my child. You didn't try to leave but instead made a home for yourself here. As long as you were in the Ruins, I could protect you. Word doesn't travel from the Ruins often, so I never worried of monsters outside of the Ruins discovering that I was hiding a human. Here, you are safe from a world that would gladly see you die."

"She's telling you the truth." Chara examined his nails. "No sense in hiding any longer. Might as well die now so that they can take your soul."

"Why would the other monsters want my soul?" Frisk asked Chara, but it was Toriel who answered.

"I don't know what Chara is telling you: only the one wearing the locket can communicate with him. However, I will tell you that Asgore, our greatest enemy, will not hesitate to have you killed. Neither would a monster fighting on his side." Unable to look Frisk in the eyes any longer, Toriel stared at the ground and finished, "There is war in the Underground, Frisk. One that cannot be won. The Underground cries for the blood of humanity. All would gather around to watch yours spill."

"And you never thought to tell me this, not in all my years with you?"

"I wanted you to feel safe."

Frisk's eyes burned. "You've been lying to me this whole time, haven't you? About this world, about its inhabitants, and about yourself?"

"Frisk, if you could begin to understand why I chose the path I did-"

"You lied to me this whole time!" Frisk accused, interrupting Toriel. "I was never your daughter, was I? Was I a pet to you?"

Toriel gasped. "Frisk, my child, I know you're upset, but there's no need to throw around those hurtful accusations."

Seeing that Toriel was right, Frisk wiped the tears from her eyes and stated, "I need a moment to myself."

"You might also need some chocolate," Chara, who Frisk forgot was there, added. "You seem moody."

"Shut up," Frisk said as she snatched the locket from around her neck. To her pleasure, the human was gone once the necklace was no longer being worn. She tossed the locket back onto the desk, pushed past Toriel as she left the room, and ignored Toriel's calls as she fled the home and ran aimlessly without looking back.

* * *

Frisk didn't know what she was going to do once she stopped running. She thought about screaming, throwing things, and even crying, but none of them appealed to her. Sitting on one of the boulders, Frisk watched the river flow by. The water was always going somewhere, never stopping but always moving on. It wasn't but twenty minutes later before Frisk realized that she needed to do the same.

"I could stay here and pout all night," she said half to herself, "or I can calmly talk this out with Mom. There's no reason to hide anything anymore when I already know this much. We can figure this all out together."

"Your mom must have had good intentions to not tell you the things she didn't," said the rock whom Frisk sat on top of. "In her mind, she must believe she was doing the right thing."

"Of course she would." Frisk sighed. "Even if I needed a moment to absorb everything, there's still no reason for me to say the things I did. First order of business would be to apologize."

"I'm glad you're getting the most out of this moment," the rock said after a while, "but are you done sitting on me yet? You're pretty heavy."

"Sorry." Frisk slid off the boulder. "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime, Frisk," the rock replied. "Tell Toriel I said 'Hi,'"

As Frisk waved at the rock, a few Whimsun flew past, frantically screaming, "The Reds! The Reds! There are Reds in the Ruins! They got Toriel!"

"The Reds?" Frisk questioned. The Whimsun were scared of their own shadows, but if something had Toriel, Frisk was not going to pass off their fear as nothing.

"Reds? In the Ruins?" The rock did the closest thing to a scream a rock can do. "Frisk, you must run. Now! Wait, where are you going? Don't run _to_ the danger!"

Yet Frisk did not listen. Something was wrong. Toriel was in danger. No coherent thoughts passed through her head. All that mattered was getting to Toriel, even if it meant walking right into the mouth of the peril her mother was in.

It took Frisk minutes to get home, but those moments felt like lifetimes. When she came to the front door, relief washed over Frisk. Everything was just as she left it on the outside. Maybe the Whimsun were freaked out over nothing. Maybe the rock was wrong. Maybe everything was okay, and stepping through the door would prove exactly that.

Only walking through the door erased all traces of relief Frisk felt.

The walls were burnt. The furniture was either turned over or destroyed altogether. The floors were scratched, as if someone had been dragged on the floor and had dug their claws into the wood to keep from being drug further.

"MOM!" The cry exploded in Frisk's chest and ripped through her throat. Without a thought, she began to run about like a madwoman as she searched for any sign of Toriel. Their living room was demolished beyond recognition. The kitchen was worse. Frisk tried not to look too long at all of the blood coated knives as she could only hope it was not her mother's blood she gazed upon.

"Mom?!" Frisk cried, rushing down the halls. "Mom, where are you?"

"Frisk?!"

Hearing Toriel's voice, Frisk shouted, "Hold on. I'm coming!"

Adrenaline continuously pumping throughout her body, Frisk slammed her slim body against the door to Toriel's bedroom. "My child, be careful!" Toriel's voice called from the other side, but Frisk didn't listen. All that mattered in that moment was getting to her mom.

When Frisk finally broke down the door, acquiring a bruised shoulder and arm in the process, she searched for a pile of white and ran straight towards Toriel when she found the monster. "Mom." Frisk knelt beside the bleeding Toriel, who leaned against a wall parallel to the bed.

Red poured from Toriel's midsection. She tried halfheartedly to cover the gaping wound with a single paw, but there was no hiding the lethal cut. Toriel put on her best smile and simply said, "I guess this is it for me."

"N0!" Frisk shook her head. Her throat was constricted. Her eyes were burning. This wasn't happening. "You-you're fine. It's just a cut. I-I can clean it. You'll be all right. Pro-promise."

"Don't make promises you cannot keep, my child. The blade was coated with deathlust. It will only be a matter of time before the poison reaches my heart and takes me away. There is no salvation for me. I'm sorry." Toriel used her clean paw to caress Frisk's face. "They know you're here. Asgore will be looking for you. Frisk, you must run away. You must go to the surface. It is not safe for you here. As long as you remain in the Underground, your life is in danger."

"But what about you?" Frisk asked, barely speaking through the lump in her throat. Her chest ached deeply, the pain spreading from the inside out. This was not happening. Things like this should not happen. They should never happen. It all must have been a bad dream, a nightmare from which Frisk could not wake.

"It's time for me to move on to the next life." Slowly, Toriel shifted her attention away from Frisk. Looking at something Frisk could not see, Toriel said, "As for you, my child, I could never apologize enough for the things you went through because of me and for the things I could not protect you from."

Frisk furrowed her brows, confused. Then she realized that Toriel was wearing the heart locket. She was speaking to Chara now.

"You and Frisk must escape the Underground," she continued to tell Chara. "Asgore will stop at nothing to take your or Frisk's soul. He shall not have either. Chara, you need to take Frisk to the barrier and out of the Underground. You two need each other now. Guide her and take care of her, and I know she will take care of you."

Whatever Chara said in reply, Frisk could not hear. All she heard was Toriel tell her lost son that she loved him one last time. It was enough for Frisk to believe she was listening in on something that was not meant for her ears.

Returning her attention to Frisk, Toriel said, "Take the locket and put it on now. Quick! Before I disappear."

Not hesitating to obey, Frisk removed the locket from Toriel's neck and put it around her own. When she did, Chara was standing beside her. His face betrayed no emotion.

"Mom, I'm so sorry about earlier," Frisk said, lacing her fingers through Toriel's bloody ones. "I should not have said any of those things."

"No, my child." Toriel used her thumb to wipe a tear from under Frisk's eye. "It is I who should apologize. I kept you ignorant of the world around you, and now you have to face the punishment of my mistakes. Be careful, my child. Find my friend. He will protect you. Trust Chara. He will be there for you like no one before him has."

"Not that I have much of a choice," Chara muttered. Frisk had to keep herself from snapping her head around and glaring at him. Now was not the time.

"I love you, Mom," Frisk whispered, another tear falling from her eyes. Toriel wiped that one away, too.

"I love you too, Frisk." Toriel laughed one last time, the sound shaky and weak. "I love the both of you. Take care, my children."

With a final breath, Toriel went completely still. Her body grew whiter and whiter until she was the color of ash. Then, more quickly than she went still, her body shattered into millions of pieces. Dust particles danced around the room, falling into a single pile. Just like that, the only mother Frisk ever knew was nothing more than a pile of ashes on the floor.

Tears fell more rapidly now. Nothing made sense. Not anymore. So many questions whirled around the pressing emotions, demanding to know why this happened and why Frisk was unable to stop it. Blame and guilt crawled up Frisk's shoulders, making themselves home on one who would not instinctively shake them off.

"You need to get moving," Chara said after a while, his tone betraying no emotion. "If you want to live, you need to get away while you can. The Reds will come back to see whether or not you have returned."

Wiping her eyes, Frisk replied, "I know. I know." She was quiet for a moment. "How many were there?"

"Three."

"And they were looking for me?"

"They offered to leave Toriel unharmed if she surrendered you to them. Of course, she refused. I guess dying is better than whatever cause they were fighting for."

Frisk shook her head. "Who are the Reds?"

"As far as you're concerned, Stripes, the Reds are the ones who want you dead." Chara clicked his tongue. "Looks as if you want yourself dead, too, if you're not in any hurry to save your skin."

"I'm not too worried about that." Frisk slowly rose to her feet.

Single eyebrow raised, Chara simply replied with, "Oh?"

Forcing a half smile on her face, Frisk simply returned with, "I have a secret." She looked down at herself. "I will need a moment to change before we begin our journey. I . . . I don't want to go anywhere with part of Mom's remains stuck to my sweater."

* * *

Moving as if her limbs were too heavy to bear, Frisk changed to a rose-pink sweater with two light brown stripes, black leggings, khaki shorts over the leggings, and gray boots. She retied her hair using the same white ribbon from before. After replacing the locket around her neck, Frisk collected Toriel's ashes and moved them to the garden. Chara followed.

"Goodbye, Mom," Frisk told the ashes before sprinkling them on the flowers and vegetation. She wanted to say more and give Toriel the proper eulogy she deserved, but the words would not come to her. All she could think to say was her goodbye, knowing that even if she had a century to speak about the love Toriel gave her, it would not be enough.

"Do you have anything you want to say?" Frisk asked Chara, feeling awkward. They both shared the same adoptive mother, yet they had never met before now. _Should I think of him as my brother?_ Frisk thought. _Or is he really no different from any other stranger?_

Chara shrugged. "I have a lot of things I could say," he answered, "but none I think would be appropriate to mention."

The two stood for a moment longer. Then Frisk looked to Chara and asked, "I would imagine going to the surface means leaving the Ruins?"

"Where else would the barrier be?"

"Not close by, I'm afraid." Frisk hugged herself. "To leave the Ruins, we will have to take the door in the basement, right?"

"I'm surprised you know that's there."

"Just because I never tried to leave before doesn't mean I was ignorant of an exit. I just had no desire to go back."

"No sense of adventure?"

"No desire to leave the first real family I ever had."

Chara snorted. "Did you really plan on staying here forever?"

"I don't know. I never thought that far ahead until now." Frisk chewed the inside of her cheek. "What about you? Did you think you were going to spend the rest of your life in the Ruins?"

"My life is already over, remember?" Chara answered. "There is no 'rest of my life,' just existing alongside whoever wears my locket. I go where they go and stay where they stay. I never had a say in any of this."

Studying Chara from the corner of her eye, Frisk carefully thought about the next words to say. "How do you feel about leaving the Ruins now?"

"I feel like nothing." Chara narrowed his eyes. "Nothing matters, so why bother having feelings?"

Frisk did not have an answer, so she chose to not respond. She forced herself to go to the kitchen and begin packing food for the trip. Her knowledge of the Underground outside of the Ruins was nonexistent – she did not know how much to pack and how long she should try to make it last. Working quickly while Chara merely watched, Frisk fought the trembling inside her as she mentally prepared herself to leave the Ruins for the first time in eight years.

Suddenly, Chara frowned. "What's wrong?" Frisk asked.

"Someone's coming," Chara answered. He smirked. "You better hide."

"What about you?"

"Only the wearer of the locket can see and hear me. I'm perfectly safe. You on the other hand . . ."

Reacting without thought, Frisk hid inside what was left of the fridge. Despite the shelves being completely torn off, the fridge was still in enough working condition to keep its inside cool. Whoever was approaching needed to come and go fast.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

"Do you think the human came back?" asked a voice that was both high-pitched and nasally.

"Like I know!" a second answered. It sounded angry. "The Royal Guards just said go back and check. Hmph! Who do they think they are to boss us around like that? Just because they're bigger and stronger does not make them better."

"But what if the human is down here?" The first again. "How do we stand against it?"

"On your feet, dummy!"

"You're one to talk, dummy!"

"You have got to be kidding me." Chara ran his fingers through his hair and walked out of the kitchen, scaring Frisk until she remembered that the monsters would not be able to see him.

 _He's probably checking out the area,_ she told herself, chilled from both fear and the still working fridge. _Chara will let me know when it's safe to come out. There's no reason to worry._

The two voices continued to argue as they came into the kitchen. Frisk melted into the fridge and peeked through a small opening, hoping and praying that the two would be too deep in their argument to know she was there. So far, so good.

One monster had a yellow, mouse-like face. It wore a purple pointed hat with a red ribbon and a purple outfit with a collar so large that it fell over where the monster's shoulders would be. Its arms were nothing more than floating cerulean orbs, and its feet simply boots floating under the body. This was the monster with the nasally voice.

The other monster was a dummy. A literal dummy. The dark yellow creature had two eyes on one side of its face, and teeth separated its torso. A red bandana was tied around its neck. The dummy was the angry one, and it swore after every other word it said to its partner. Everything Toriel ever said about such language came back to Frisk, making her heartsick all over again.

"I wish I was still assigned with Knight Knight!" the first monster eventually snapped. "She may have slept a lot, but she was still a better partner than you will ever be!"

"Well excuse me for not liking this any more than you, you jinxed weasel!"

The first monster gasped. "You take that back."

Laughing, the dummy replied, "Make me."

"All right, but you asked for it. Abra cadabra!" As soon as the words were spoken, glowing orbs manifested around the monster. The creature crackled as the orbs began to chase the dummy, leading the dummy to swear even more.

"I'll show you!" the dummy shouted as it levitated away from the orbs. "Dummies, go!"

Dummies similar yet smaller than the angered dummy came from out of nowhere and began to charge towards the orbs. However, the magical balls must have scared them, for each little dummy fled the orbs and tried to return to their master. He yelled at them to go away, but they didn't listen. The dummies escaped the wrath of Madjick, but the cost was the big dummy getting hit by every single orb the first monster sent after it.

"Dummies! The whole lot of you!" The Mad Dummy was so angered that Frisk could have sworn that it was steaming. "Just you wait, Madjick. You're going to regret ever meeting the likes of me."

"Too late. I already regret meeting you."

Unfortunately for Frisk, the fridge door chose that moment to completely fall off its hinges. She gasped as the heavy door thudded on the ground. Her goosebumps rose even more. Both monsters turned their attention towards her. They stared at her. She stared back. They stared some more.

"Is . . . ," Madjick trailed off and started again. "Is that a human?"

"Of course it's a human!" the Mad Dummy snapped. "Disgusting creature! Wait till I take it to King Asgore."

"Not if I take it first," Madjick cut in. To Frisk, "Your soul is mine!"

Thinking fast, Frisk pointed behind them and shouted, "Is that a butter dragon?!"

While the monsters were distracted, Frisk bolted for the exit. "Hey!" the Mad Dummy yelled as it and Madjick gave chase. "Come back here!"

"I'll get the human first!" Madjick claimed.

"Not if I beat you to it!" the Mad Dummy replied.

Frisk forced herself to run faster than she had ever run before. Since there were no footsteps to tell her how close the monsters were behind, it took a lot of willpower to keep from turning around. Instead she kept her gaze focused forwards as she fled her home and began to run aimlessly through the Ruins.

"Would you please stop that running?" Chara demanded, suddenly running alongside Frisk. "I can't be too far from the locket before it starts dragging me along with it."

"No stop. Keep going. Monsters after me." Each word came out in a huff. Frisk still not dared to look back. The tactic seemed to be working. Complaining loudly, the monsters were getting further away from Frisk no matter how they tried to catch up.

Running into the dead woods, Frisk hid amongst the hollowed trees. She doubled over and tried to catch her breath. "Where . . . were . . . you?" she asked between breaths.

"I wanted to find the exit," Chara answered, not at all amused. "That's where those idiot monsters came from. Shamefully, my limits did not allow me to explore the basement as much as I would have liked, but they seem to be alone." Chara huffed. "It's possible that those monsters sent to look for a human were only given that task just so whoever was dealing with them could get a break."

"Here, human, human, human," Madjick called before Frisk could reply to Chara.

"We're not going to hurt you," the Mad Dummy said. "We're only going to rip your soul from your body."

"Just back away really slowly," Chara advised. Frisk obeyed, but she stepped on a large stick that immediately snapped under her weight. Her heart caught in her throat. The monsters crackled.

"There's no escaping now!" Madjick exclaimed. Frisk looked from behind the tree in time to see a number of orbs manifesting around Madjick.

"I won't let you get the human before me!" Mad Dummy shouted. "Dummies, go!"

With no time to swear had she wanted to, Frisk turned on her heel and ran again. Both orbs and dummies chased after her. Some collided with the dead trees, and others exploded on the ground only steps behind Frisk. Pushing her legs to carry her faster and farther away, Frisk could feel nothing beyond her pounding heart and heaving breaths.

She didn't run fast enough. Whether it was an orb or dummy, Frisk did not know, but something hit her in the back, exploded, and threw her forward. Frisk landed on her side and rolled recklessly until her body slammed into a tree, putting an abrupt end to the momentum. Her body ached all over, and her ears rang. Chara stood over her. His lips were moving, but no words seemed to be coming out.

Madjick and Mad Dummy were approaching Frisk. They seemed to be bickering over who it was that hit the human, but Frisk was too injured to take the opportunity to run away. All she could do was reach out, wrap her fingers around a long stick not far from her, and push herself to her feet.

"Stop right there!" Mad Dummy shouted, his words muffled. "I'll have another one of my dummies knock you out if you try anything."

"For the last time," Madjick said, irritated, "it was _my_ orb that stopped the human!"

Knees so weak that she had to lean against the tree to keep from falling, Frisk stood her ground and held out the stick. There was nothing threatening about a battered and bruised teenage girl holding nothing save a stick as a means of defense, but it was all she had hope in. Toriel was not coming to save her, and Chara appeared to be nothing more than a bystander in all of this. All she had was her determination. Frisk hoped that would be enough.

"Whatever!" Mad Dummy turned away from Madjick. "It doesn't matter who hit the human, because I'm going to finish it. Dummies-"

"Wait!" Madjick shouted upon turning its attention to Frisk. It studied Frisk for a moment, its focus mostly on the stick in Frisk's hand, before saying mostly to itself, "A fellow wizard, I see." To Mad Dummy, "We can't take this human's soul. It is against the laws of sorcerous beings to take the souls of associate wizards."

"Fortunately, I'm not a wizard!" Mad Dummy crackled and danced around. "You go ahead and obey your silly law. I'll take care of the human."

"But it's a wizard!"

"The humans used their wizards to lock us away under this mountain! I have no sympathy for such creatures." Mini dummies appeared around the gleeful larger dummy. "Last attack, dummies," Mad Dummy said. "Make it good!"

"Francis!"

The Mad Dummy froze, the smaller dummies halting mid-attack. Another dummy flew in front of Frisk. Unlike the Mad Dummy, this one looked like a regular old training dummy. Frisk frowned. This was the same dummy Toriel had used to teach Frisk to talk to monsters. Never would Frisk have imagined that it was alive this whole time.

"Francis," the newly arrived dummy began, "what do you think you're doing? And why are you so angry?"

"Can't blame him. I would be pretty mad too if my name was Francis," Chara said. Frisk sucked in a breath before shaking her head at herself. She had forgotten only she could hear him.

"I'm taking this human's soul!" Mad Dummy – Francis – replied. "Once I have that soul, I'll be able to supply King Asgore with his seventh and final human soul. With it, he will become a god and destroy the barrier. We can be free!"

"Freedom should not come at the cost of destroying an innocent!" Dummy replied.

Francis laughed without humor. "You've always been a passive, bashful one, Shelby, but I've never taken you for a Blue."

"This isn't about Reds or Blues," Shelby claimed. It or she or whatever sunk in on itself before letting out a deep breath. The Dummy flew forward with forced confidence. "This is about doing the right thing! I met this human her first day here. I was too timid and scared out of my body when she first spoke to me, but she has never done me harm. Actually, Frisk has never hurt anyone the whole time she lived here. This human grew up in the Ruins. She belongs here just as much as I do."

Silence lingered for a moment or two. None of the monsters said anything. Frisk dared not move lest the attention shift back to her. Chara merely whistled a tune.

Finally, Francis spoke. "That's really touching, Shelby. It really is." Francis crackled again. "Too bad I don't care!"

Before he could say or do anything else, rain began pouring from the sky. "Ouch! Ooo. Ow. Oww!" No matter how Francis danced around, he could not avoid the downpour that landed on him. Frisk, Shelby, and Madjick all stared at each other before returning their attention to Francis. Whatever fell on him was not affecting them at all.

"That's it!" Francis declared after avoiding the rain proved futile. "You three can hold hands and sing Kumbaya all you want, but we will break that barrier, and we will use the human's soul to do it. You haven't escaped, human, only postponed the inevitable."

Disappearing into thin air, Francis laughed some more as his figure faded from view. After he had vanished, Madjick exclaimed, "You don't know how long I've been waiting for him to get out of my sight! Thank you!"

"I wasn't trying to make him leave," a ghost said as it descended towards the others. "He wanted to hurt Frisk, so I thought I would help you guys talk it out with him. I didn't mean for him to go away."

"No, Napstablook." Frisk pushed herself away from the tree, dropped the stick, and stumbled towards the monster. Wrapping her arms around Napstablook, she said, "You really helped us out. There was no way we were going to get out of that without a fight, and it's better that no one else got hurt."

"You're . . . glad that crazed dummy didn't get hurt?" Madjick questioned. He moved so that he was levitating beside Frisk, who now rested her weight on Napstablook. "I have always been told that humans love violence and would gladly kill any monster they came across."

Frisk shook her head. "That's the same as saying all monsters hide under human children's beds so the monsters can eat the children at night."

Gasping in horror, Madjick jumped back as its orb arms flew over its head. "But monsters would never do that!"

"I think what Frisk is trying to say," Shelby said quietly, "is there is a big misunderstanding between monsters and humans. After the death of both princes years ago, very few monsters have been willing to give humans a chance."

"'Both princes'?" Frisk questioned. "The king . . . King Asgore had sons?"

"He wasn't always the monster he is today," Shelby replied. "Loss can do things to a person. It can even twist them until they are no longer someone their loved ones recognize."

The thought of the king losing his children caused Frisk to suffer heartache for the monster. Humans had to be responsible for the death of the princes, Frisk knew, unless King Asgore's blaming humanity was unjustified. No matter the case, sympathy welled up for the one who would not hesitate to kill her if he ever got the chance. Frisk looked to Chara to see if his expression gave away what he knew of the deceased princes, but he was nowhere to be found. Frowning, Frisk made sure the locket was still around her neck. There it was, resting on her breast. If Chara was gone, he had wondered off on his own.

"I need to go to the surface," Frisk said, the words struggling to come out of her mouth. "It's not safe for me here. Toriel . . . Toriel's last wish is that I escape. I must do as she asked." Frisk's knees gave out from under her. Without thinking, she held tighter to Napstablook. However, his perfectly smooth body gave Frisk nothing to cling to, and she slid until landing on the ground.

"I'm sorry," Napstablook apologized. "I don't have the arms to catch you with."

"You can't go to the surface under that condition," Shelby told Frisk. "You won't last long if you do."

"Yeah," Madjick chimed in. "Any Red who sees you won't hesitate to kill you and take your soul."

"I can't wait," Frisk replied as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "That dummy – Francis will tell the Reds where I am. If I linger, it won't be long before they come find me."

"Hahaha, I wouldn't worry about him!" Madjick seemed to dance with delight. "If our commanding officers knew we saw a human and let it get away, the punishment would be unimaginable. That dummy will do no talking if he knows what's good for him! However, he might try to get you again. He knows you're here in the Underground, and that's better than the rumor that sent us here in the first place."

There was so much Frisk wanted to ask. There was so much that didn't make sense. Reds. Rumors. King Asgore's deceased sons. While Toriel protected her from the dangers of the Underground, she also sheltered Frisk from the Underground's very history. All Frisk knew at this point was that the Underground history was not a happy one.

Travel would be hard. Even if Frisk knew all that there was to be known, that knowledge would not protect her from another attack. Suddenly, something Toriel said with her dying breaths was pulled to the front of her mind, something that Frisk was too grief-stricken to really hear as her mother lay dying.

 _"_ _Find my friend. He will protect you."_

"Toriel's friend," Frisk said as she rose to her wobbling legs. Ignoring Shelby's plea that she ought not to stand in her condition, Frisk said, "I need to find Toriel's friend."

Whatever everyone else's reaction was, Frisk could not see. The world around her grew darker and darker until it was consumed by darkness. Again Frisk's legs gave out from under her, and as she fell into the abyss, she could faintly hear someone calling her name.

* * *

When she came to, Frisk was in her bedroom. She sat upright, looked around, and saw that everything was in place. The corners of her lips pulled into a frown. _It was all a dream – no, a nightmare,_ she thought. _A vivid nightmare, but a nightmare nonetheless._

Yet as she pulled back the covers, her arms felt as if they had exploded in her joints. Frisk studied her limbs to find bruises scattered across her skin. A red locket swung from the chain around her neck, reflecting the little light that peeped from under Frisk's door. Unable to stop herself, Frisk started to hyperventilate. It wasn't a nightmare. It was all real. The monsters. Toriel's death. Chara.

At the thought of the human, Frisk whipped her head around the room in search for him. Chara was nowhere to be found. Frisk had not seen him since the forest.

Frisk stood on sore feet and slowly walked towards her bedroom door. Bracing herself, she entered the hallway, but everything was as it should have been. It was as if the break in never happened, but Frisk's aching body and the locket on her breast both proved that the horrific events indeed did take place.

Voices came from the living room. Frisk froze with fear before melting at the familiarity of the speakers. She forced her protesting body to move forward, and there, sitting on the top of the stairs, was Chara.

"Oh, you are awake," he said. There was no emotion in his words, as with nearly everything he said. When he spoke the words, he was merely making an observation.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Frisk asked. She stopped walking and leaned on the railing for support.

"About a day," Chara answered. He looked her up and down, studying her recovery. "Nobody knew what to do while they waited for you to wake up, so they cleaned the mess the Reds left." Looking at his feet, Chara mumbled, "It looks as if the Reds never came."

"Did you . . ." Frisk swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. "Did you witness the whole thing?"

Chara nodded. "Of course, I could do nothing to stop it." He wrapped his arms around himself. Suddenly he no longer appeared to be the cold presence he was when Frisk first met him. Now he seemed to be just like she – young, uncertain, and afraid. "Only those who wear the locket can see and hear me," he said, the words just above a whisper, "but that's it. Nobody can touch me, and I can't touch anyone. Even you, while you wear the locket, can do nothing beyond communicate with me. I'm less than a ghost."

At a loss for words, Frisk rested her head against the railing. They were both helpless. If another Red attacked, it would be the end for both of them. Frisk was too weak to fight, and nothing Chara could do would help. This was a losing battle, and that was why Frisk knew the only way out was to escape the Underground for good.

"It's your fault, you know."

Looking up, Frisk saw Chara glaring at her. "If you had not upset Toriel so much," he continued, "she might not have been too distraught to defend herself."

Frisk felt as if she was going to fall over again. "She didn't fight back?"

"She didn't even try." Chara rose to his feet. "It's all your fault she's dead. Had you never run off the way you did- No, had you never come here in the first place, the Reds would not have come. Toriel would still be alive. Everyone would be better off."

Ashamed, Frisk tore her eyes away from Chara and looked towards the ground. She gripped the railing so tightly her knuckles turned chalk white. Tears streamed down her face. Chara was right, and it was a weight she would have to bear for the rest of her life.

"Frisk?" Napstablook levitated towards her. Madjick and Shelby followed close behind. "We thought we heard you over here." When he noticed the tears, Napstablook asked, "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine," Frisk answered, the lie heavy in the air. "It's just . . . when I woke up, I almost believed everything that had happened to be a dream. But it's not. This is real. Toriel is dead. I'm in danger."

"And everyone who tries to protect you is in danger, too," Chara added, causing Frisk to wince.

"Which is why the sooner you leave, the better off you will be," Shelby said softly.

"You, on the other hand," Madjick began, "have a more dangerous mission ahead. If I were you, I'd stay low. Go to a small town and hide out until you can figure out a plan."

"But other monsters." The argument was out of Frisk's mouth before she realized her lips were parted.

"Not every monster wants you to die," Madjick said. " _Monsters dressed in blue are good for you. Monsters dressed in red will want you dead._ " Madjick danced in a circle. "You like that rhyme? I made it up just now."

Despite herself, Frisk smiled. Then she frowned. "But what about you guys? What will become of you? And who will take care of the Ruins?"

Shelby came forward. "I admit I had always been rather bashful, but what is happening is something I can't keep quiet about. Now that I have started to come out of my shell, I can feel the momentum of bravery for what it is I need to do. With Toriel no longer among us, someone has to care for the Ruins."

"I'll stay behind to help," Madjick said. "If any of the Reds know I helped you, I'll be labeled as a traitor. It would be better if I stayed here and helped protect everyone if the Reds do decide to come back."

"And you?" Frisk asked Napstablook.

"I'm going back home and living life as normal," he answered. "I'm not cool enough to be any help in this adventure."

"Don't say that." Frisk reached out and touched Napstablook where she assumed his shoulder would be.

"Why not?" Chara asked. "He does seem pretty useless."

Frisk worded her statement carefully so that she could answer Chara and still address Napstablook. "If not for you, we might still be fighting that mad dummy."

"Which means you need to get out of here as soon as possible," Shelby cut in. "If another monster tries to stop you, there may be no getting away."

Nodding, Frisk left to again gathered her things. Before her final departure, she visited Toriel's room one last time. She dug around in the desk, and when she found what she was looking for, she ripped the page out of its binder and shoved it into her bag.

"What did you just take?" Chara asked, watching from the corner of the room.

"That's not important," Frisk answered. She shouldered her bag. "We had better get going. I don't want to put this off a minute longer."

After saying goodbye to the monsters, Frisk descended into the basement. The closer she got to the exit, the more her heart got caught in her throat. When she came to the large, purple door, she froze. Breathing was manual, and limbs shook as if an earthquake was happening in her core.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Chara demanded. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "I thought you didn't want to put this off."

"I don't." Frisk choked on her words. "It's just I've never left the Ruins before. This is all so new. I don't know what to expect." She looked to Chara. "Toriel left you as my guide. What can you tell me about the Underground?"

Chara shrugged. "It's been years since I was outside the Ruins. Anything could have happened between then and now. I can get you to the barrier, but what to expect on the way there is just as much a mystery to me as it is you."

Humming in frustration, Frisk said, "I wish I knew who Toriel's friend is. That would make finding him so much easier."

"She never mentioned a friend before?"

"There was a lot she never mentioned. I never knew until now how much she kept from me." Frisk shook her head. "Anything could happen out there, and that's a very, very scary thought."

"Are you afraid?"

"A little."

"Just a little?"

"I told you, I have a secret." Steeling herself, Frisk said, "Enough stalling. Better to go through the door before something comes through it."

Without waiting for a response from Chara, Frisk pushed open the heavy double doors. A cold, dead air blew through the cracks, and when Frisk entered the halls, she felt a chill crawl up her spine. It was pitch black. She almost turned back around to get a flashlight.

Frisk took a deep breath and forced her foot forward. Then the next. Then the next. Soon, she was walking. Chara followed close behind. Just as she was about to decide that perhaps this wasn't so bad after all, she stopped in her tracks.

"What are you doing?" Chara asked, sounding impatient.

Frisk didn't answer. Instead, she simply stared at the single golden flower before her. It swayed, but there was no wind to gently push it around. The flower was dancing because it was capable of movement all on its own. Frisk tried and failed to swallow her fear.

"So you came face-to-face with a couple of Reds, and you refused to hurt either of them?" Flowey questioned. From the corner of her eye, Frisk saw Chara take a step back. "How noble of you," Flowey taunted, "but those weren't even the Reds you need to worry about. You may have spared a couple of lives now, but what about when you meet a relentless killer and can't seem to progress? Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you give up entirely? In this world, it's kill or be killed. You can't play by your own rules forever." Flowey laughed wickedly. "I'll be watching you, Frisk." With that said, Flowey sunk into the ground and vanished from sight.

Frozen in place, Frisk could feel her mouth opening and closing as words failed to come out. She had never forgotten the day she fell and Flowey almost killed her. At times growing up she thought she had seen the flower, but as her body tensed in fear, he was gone.

"Did that flower just talk to you?" Chara asked after a moment. When Frisk looked at him, she saw that his brows were raised as he stared where Flowey just was. It was the most emotion Frisk had seen on the other human thus far.

"Yes, he did," Frisk quietly answered. "He scares me. He has haunted me in my nightmares ever since I came to the Underground." Chara nodded and said nothing more.

Pushing the fear aside, Frisk forced herself to continue forward. The exit was in sight. It was a matter of seconds before she would leave the Ruins, the rest of her future falling into a spiral of uncertainty. Frisk allowed a feeling of farewell as she stepped into the world unknown.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

The sharp, stabbing air bit Frisk's cheeks and enveloped her in a blanket of cold. She wrapped her arms around herself instinctively as she took in her surroundings. There was white everywhere she looked.

"It's been a long time since I've seen snow." She shivered as she hugged herself tighter.

"I can't remember the last time I was here," Chara commented. The cold, it seemed, did not bother him. _Maybe,_ Frisk thought, _he's as immune to touch as he says he is._

With no way to go but forward, Frisk continued walking. She had no idea where she was going, but someplace warm was a good start. Now only to hope she would not run into any Reds along the way.

Frisk and Chara walked down the only marked path in sight. Rows of pine trees and conifers lined the road and stretched as far as the eye could see. Snow fell from the top of the mountain, adding layers upon layers to the white blanket that seemed to go on forever.

A large tree limb lied on the path. Frisk tried to move it – "In case somebody else comes down this way," she told Chara when he asked why she was doing so – but it was too heavy for her to pick up. After dragging the limb halfway off the road, Frisk continued to walk forwards. She didn't make it many yards before a loud snapping sound echoed behind them.

Turning around, Frisk's heart caught in her throat at the sight of the heavy limb completely crushed into small fragments. She looked this way and that, but there was no one save her and Chara in sight. "Do branches in the Underground break apart like that?" she asked her companion.

Chara shook his head. "Not on their own. I suggest you keep your eyes open."

A nod her only reply, Frisk turned back around and kept walking. This time it sounded as if they were being followed. Frisk snapped her head around again, but there was still no sign of anyone else. Then a dark figure emerged from the shadows.

"Run," Chara advised. Frisk didn't wait to be told a second time.

Frisk ran as fast as her long legs would carry her. The harsh air scraped against her, but she didn't stop. She had to keep running until she either found a place to hide or she lost what was following her.

It didn't take long before a bridge, large bars on either side, came into sight. Frisk pushed herself harder, racing to cross it, but she slipped on ice and lost her balance. Her face smacked into the icy road, her nose cracked upon impact, and blood began to gush from her nostrils.

"Are you serious?!" Chara sounded more irritated than afraid. "Now is not the time to be the clumsy brunette, Stripes. Your life is _in danger_."

Part of Frisk wanted to snap at Chara that she was well aware of the danger they were in, but the rest of her wanted to get up and keep running. She began to push herself to her feet but stopped when she heard Chara make a choking noise. Looking up at him, she felt her chest explode with dread at the sight of Chara staring at something just over her shoulder.

"Human," began a voice as deep as the seemingly bottomless chasm below. "Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

Not knowing what else to do, Frisk stood up and slowly turned. She ignored Chara as he ordered her to run. As much as her racing heart screamed at her to escape, Frisk knew that she was better off playing by this new monster's rules. Anything with a voice that scary was bound to be a true terror if she angered it.

With her eyes squeezed shut, Frisk thought it a miracle her hand found the monster's without first searching aimlessly through the chilling air. Fear consuming her every fiber, Frisk didn't take note of the thin, hard fingers that wrapped around hers. As she shook it, she remembered to give the other hand a slight squeeze .

 _PFFFFFTTT!_

The sudden noise shocked Frisk into opening her eyes. Before her was a skeleton about as tall as she, grinning like the Cheshire Cat himself. The skeleton wore a black turtle neck, gray shorts, pink slippers, and a large, red hoodie with what looked to be light brown fur peeking out from inside the hood.

Chuckling, the newcomer let go of Frisk's hand, drew back his hood, and said, "The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It's _always_ funny." He waited for Frisk to respond, but she was so lost for words that all she could do was gape in a mixture of terror and confusion. The monster shrugged it off.

"Anyways," he continued, "you're a human, right? That's hilarious." Again, Frisk didn't reply. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton."

"I'm . . . Frisk," the girl finally managed to say. Tasting blood on her lip, Frisk remembered that her nose was bleeding. Since this wasn't the time to treat an injury, all Frisk could do was plug her nose and breathe through her mouth.

"What are you doing, Stripes?" Chara asked. He moved to stand besides Sans since it appeared Frisk was not going to rip her eyes away from the monster anytime soon. "Now is not the time for pleasantries. Get out of there before a bloody nose is the last of your worries."

An answer formed on Frisk's lips, but she bit it back. She didn't want Sans to know there was another person present. Chara needed to be her secret, or at least until events demanded otherwise.

"Frisk, huh?" Sans said, entirely unaware. "I'm actually supposed to be on the watch for humans right now."

Frisk felt her spine turn to steel and her blood to ice colder than the surrounding air. _A Red!_ Listening to Chara started to seem like the better idea.

"But . . . , y'know . . . ," Sans continued, shrugging, "I don't really care about capturing anybody." Before Frisk could breathe a sigh of relief, Sans went on, "Now my brother, Papyrus . . . He's a human-hunting _fanatic_. Hey, actually," Sans looked off into the distance, "I think that's him over there." Dread again washed over Frisk. If Sans noticed, he didn't show it. "I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy."

"Are you joking?" Frisk tried to say, but the words were caught in her throat. If Sans didn't feel like capturing her, then he must have been okay passing the job on to his brother. As a Red, then perhaps all that mattered was getting a human soul regardless how the task got done.

Sans must have understood her strangled words, because he replied with, "Yeah, go right through. My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Without giving Frisk a chance to respond, Sans turned her around and began pushing her across the bridge. True to Sans words, the bars were more than wide enough, yet what truly caused Frisk anxiety was the tall figure in the distance that grew taller with each step forward she took. Her heart must have stopped beating.

"I told you that you should have ran," Chara said unhelpfully. "You brought this on yourself."

A snarky reply was on Frisk's tongue. It didn't matter if Sans thought she was crazy if she was going to be dead in a minute anyway, so Frisk decided to tell Chara what was on her mind. However, the words were jerked out of her when Sans came to a sudden stop.

"Quick," he said as he turned her body to the left, "behind that conveniently-placed clock."

True to San's words, there was a tall grandfather clock just sitting in the snow, next to what appeared to be a small station. The clock seemed to be just the right size for Frisk. She could hide behind it with ease, but only if she stood still. As wide as the clock was, it didn't appear much wider than her shoulders.

"What are you waiting for?" Sans pushed her forward. "Hide."

Frisk didn't wait to be told another time. With no plans to save herself in mind, Frisk rushed to stand behind the clock. "Are you freaking serious?" Chara moved to stand next to her. "This could be a trap."

"Any better ideas?" Frisk, plugging her nose again, spoke quietly enough that she was sure Sans couldn't hear her. Chara's lack of response told Frisk all that she needed to know. "Please keep watch," she told Chara. "Tell me what you see."

Rolling his eyes, Chara took a few steps away from the clock and watched what happened on the other side. "There's another skeleton," he said. "Much taller and skinnier than that comedian. What the . . . ? He looks like he's wearing a costume."

"What does it look like?" Frisk asked.

"Is this monster's fashion sense really that important to you?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and theorize that the Reds wear the color on their clothing. If you don't want to describe the outfit, please at least tell me the colors of it."

Chara forced air out of his nose before answering, "Black and red."

"That's not what I wanted to hear." Frisk shivered where she stood.

"Sup, bro?" That was Sans. He sounded so casual. It was almost like an I-haven't-seen-any-humans-and-told-them-to-hide-behind-this-conveniently-placed-clock casual. The "almost" was what worried Frisk.

"You know what 'sup,' brother!" replied the second monster, Papyrus. His voice was much higher than Sans's, and whatever he wanted to talk to Sans about, he was not happy with the topic of interest. "It's been three weeks, and you still haven't recalibrated. Your. Puzzles! You just hang around outside your station! What are you even doing?!"

"Staring at this clock." Unlike his brother, who sounded like the very definition of the word "irritated," Sans seemed completely relaxed. "It's really cool. Do you wanna look?"

"Don't sell her out like that!" Chara hissed. Then, "Oh," he chuckled, "the tall one is pitching a fit now. Complete with throwing his fists around and stomping his foot. What a loser."

"NO!" Papyrus shouted. "I don't have time for that! What if a human comes through here?! I want to be ready! I will be the one! I _must_ be the one! I _will_ capture a human!"

"Careful, this one has it out for you," Chara told Frisk, the corners of his lips turned upwards. He wasn't necessarily smiling, but more like smirking. Whatever was happening on the other side of the clock, Chara found it amusing.

"What else is happening?" Frisk asked.

"Uh, the tall one is posing now," Chara answered. "He has one hand on his hip and the other on his chest. Wait, how's his scarf flying behind him? There's no wind!"

"Then I, the Great Papyrus," the tall skeleton continued, "will get all the things I utterly deserve! Respect. Recognition. I will finally be accepted back into the Royal Guard! No longer will the shame of the past follow me. Those who mock me now will ask. To be. My 'friend'! I will bathe in a shower of apologies and kisses every morning."

"Hmmm." Sans again. "Maybe this clock will help you."

"Sans!" Papyrus shouted.

"The tall one is pitching a fit again," Chara supplied.

"You are not helping! You lazybones! All you do is sit and boondoggle! You get lazier and lazier every day!"

"Hey, take it easy," Sans told Papyrus. "I've gotten a ton of work done today. A skele- _ton_."

"Oh, brother," Chara rolled his eyes.

"I thought it was pretty funny," Frisk said.

Shaking his head, all Chara replied with was, "Of course you would find it funny."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sans!" Papyrus snapped before Chara could answer Frisk.

"Come on," Sans said. "You're smiling."

"I am and I hate it!" Papyrus shouted. He then sighed. "Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition?"

"Wow," Sans again, "sounds like you're really working yourself . . ." – the "wait for it" was almost audible – " _to the bone_."

Chara snorted in disbelief. Frisk snorted in humor. Papyrus shouted in aggravation.

"UGH! I will attend to my puzzles. As for your work? Put a little more _backbone_ into it! Nyehehehehe!"

"He's walking away," Chara said then frowned. "Nope. He's coming back."

"Heh!"

"Now he's gone."

"Do you think it's safe to come out?" Frisk asked.

"Hmmm." Chara took a few steps forward. "The comedian is laughing to himself," he answered, "but it appears safe."

Chara's words were confirmed when Sans called out, "Okay, you can come out now."

With no hesitation, Frisk emerged from behind the clock and approached Sans. She stopped pinching her nose, and she was grateful to feel no more blood gushing out. "Thank you for hiding me," she said.

The comment must have thrown Sans off, because his body language stiffened and he leaned back just a little. He looked the human up and down before relaxing again. "Don't mention it," he replied. "Now you oughta get going. He might come back, and if he does . . ." Sans winked, a surprising task considering he had no eyelids. "You'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

"Then let's get out of here before that happens," Chara suggested. "Hearing more of those awful jokes is a fate worse than death, and I'm already dead!" When Frisk didn't move, he added, "While you're still young, Stripes."

However, Frisk ignored Chara. She stood in front of Sans, wringing her fingers. Not only was she trying to find the words to say, but she was also gathering the courage to speak them.

Noticing this, Sans asked, "What's the holdup? Look, there's nothin' to be afraid of." He winked again. "It's just a dark cavern filled with skeletons and horrible monsters."

"That's the thing," Frisk answered. "It's not safe for me here. I know there are more than enough monsters who won't hesitate to kill me for my soul. Why did you hide me? Aren't you a Red?"

"Huh?" Sans looked down at his hoodie and back at Frisk. "I thought red made my eyes pop. Are you saying you don't agree?" When Frisk didn't reply, Sans shrugged and said, "Look, kid, I'm not going to bother with anyone who isn't causing trouble. As long as you're minding your own business, I don't care what you do. Become a real pain, and I can promise that you'll be in for a bad time."

"What do you suggest I do?" Frisk asked.

"Are you insane?" Chara approached Frisk and glared at her. "Red or no, do you really think it's a clever idea to ask some random monster for safety advice?"

"What I suggest you do," Sans answered, completely oblivious to Chara staring daggers at him, "is to lie low and be seen as little as possible. I'll keep an eye socket out for ya, kid, but I won't promise to lend a hand if you get yourself into big trouble."

 _"_ _Monsters dressed in blue are good for you. Monsters dressed in red will want you dead."_

Remembering Madjick's rhyme, Frisk decided to ask Sans more questions until she either could think of nothing else to say or until Sans began to look irritated. Whichever came first. "So if I see monsters wearing red, make a run for it?"

Sans didn't think about it. "Pretty much."

"And if I see monsters dressed in blue?"

"Just because the Blues want something different from the Reds doesn't automatically make them your friend," Sans said. "However, you'd have better luck getting out of a fight with a Blue than you would a Red. Of course, a Blue would probably take you in to keep you from the Reds. All depends on the person."

"So if I say, for example, find a group of Blues, I can hide out with them until I'm ready to go again?"

"Shut up, Stripes," Chara ordered. Frisk ignored him.

"If that's the best plan you got, I don't see why not go for it." Sans shook his head. "Better get going. Papyrus could be back at any second if I don't start recalibrating my puzzles." Frisk's eyes lit up, but Sans spoke again before she could say anything. "I'll be up ahead."

Instead of following Papyrus, Sans walked in the opposite direction. Frisk almost called out to him that he was going the wrong way, but she blinked, and Sans was gone. Frowning, Frisk wondered where the skeleton wandered off to.

"You are the stupidest of the stupid," Chara said, standing right in front of Frist so she couldn't look elsewhere. "Do you think just because he hid you that one time he's someone you can trust? Idiot! I sure hope that plan you gave him wasn't what you actually had in mind because he now knows exactly where to look to find you."

"Considering I have yet to meet any Blues," Frisk began, "I think he has a better idea where I can hide than I do. Now, what do you think? I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

"Sure I do, and it doesn't involve making friends with any Reds." Chara crossed his arms. "This is a kill or be killed world. You are wondering in the dark – every step you take could be forwards or backwards, and you wouldn't know the difference. For now, I say trust nobody, and get rid of your enemies any way you can."

"'Any way I can'? Chara, you aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

"Kill or be killed, Stripes."

Mimicking Chara's posture, Frisk narrowed her eyes at the boy and replied, "I refuse to succumb to that level. Toriel always taught me to be kind, and I will honor that teaching. Just because I can be terrible doesn't mean I should, Chara."

"And if you should?"

"I'll refuse."

Chara laughed without humor. "Thinking like that will get you killed."

"I'm not worried about that." Frisk turned around and began to continue forwards. "Let's keep going. If we keep walking, we should find somewhere to stay sooner or later."

* * *

The journey to find a resting place did not happen sooner. By the time night fell, Frisk, having used the snow to clean to blood from her face, was too tired to continue the search. Fortunately there was no sunlight in the Underground, meaning the road she traveled would not get any darker than it already was. There was no pressure to start a fire before light faded, but she still made one, and the temperature, although already freezing, was not bound to drop any further. It was through Frisk's internal clock, well-adjusted from the years of living in the Underground, she was able to tell that outside the mountain, night had fallen.

Pulling the blanket she had stuffed inside her pack closer to her, Frisk watched the flames as they danced along to a song she could not hear. The crackle helped put her mind at ease. Heat from the fire kept her from getting too cold from her lack of motion. She leaned against the tree and took in a deep breath. It was almost nice to be there right in that moment. Only the company kept the experience from being an enjoyable one.

"No offense," Chara said, sitting directly across from her, "but you are quite boring. Is there not anything for you to speak about? No topic you wish to converse with me?"

Frisk shrugged. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired." She looked at Chara and studied his face. As usual, there was no emotion in his demeanor. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?" Frisk suggested. "How did you die? No, how did you come to the Underground in the first place? Toriel said that humans didn't fall often."

"They don't," Chara replied. "I was the first human to fall."

Eyes widening as her body angled forward, Frisk asked, "Really? You're the first? How did you fall? When did you fall?"

Chara shrugged. "I'm not so sure of the 'when' part. I lived for ten years, but everything after my death only exist in bits and pieces. Toriel never wore the locket regularly, although she did wear it often enough until she adopted you." There was no denying the anger laced in Chara's word in that last statement. "However, I am certain enough to theorize that chronologically, I am old enough to be your grandfather. Great-grandfather, perhaps."

"You must get very bored when the locket is not being worn," Frisk mumbled. "I can't imagine being surrounded by people and having no one to talk to."

"Your imagining my experience of this state wrongly," Chara replied. "First, Toriel was never one for company – you should know this already. How often did she have guests over?"

"Never, or at least not that I can recall at the top of my head."

"Second point, and this I am most grateful for, but when there is none to wear the locket, it is as if I don't exist."

Cocking her head, Frisk asked, "What do you mean by it's as if you don't exist?"

"Exactly that – as if I don't exist," Chara answered. "I'm only conscious when the locket is being worn by a being with a soul. If you were to take the locket off now, not wear it for a month, and put it back on, no time would feel to have passed for me. Of course, there is the side effect of distortion, but it truly makes no difference to me if you took off the locket for a minute or a year."

"That's . . . interesting." Frisk pulled the blanket closer to her body.

"It's also the reason Toriel probably didn't feel too guilty about not talking to me much after she took you in." Again his anger was evident. "Had I been cursed to always be aware of the world around the locket I am forever bound to, I would have gone mad decades ago."

Hardly aware of what she was doing, Frisk rose her hand and wrapped her fingers around the cool locket. It saddened her that anyone would be trapped with such a fate as Chara's. The anger and bitterness he wore had to be a product of his circumstances. Frisk wondered who Chara was before his death and how different, if at all, he acted in death than in life.

"Stop pitying me," Chara ordered after Frisk failed to reply. "I have had more than enough time to accept my fate. The last thing I need is some human to feel sorry for me."

"Sorry." Frisk, not knowing what else to say, dropped the locket. No other words came from Chara. With nothing but the crackle from the fire to break the silence, Frisk rested her eyes as she leaned her head against the tree. In a state of half-asleep, Frisk saw a star floating in front of her. She reached out, and heard the familiar beep it always made.

* * *

If she slept, it wasn't restful. She opened her eyes to find herself in the same position she had been in after she finished speaking with Chara. Only the stiffness of her muscles and the absence of Chara was her proof that she had been asleep for some time.

Her fire was low and barely burning, so Frisk kicked snow on top of it to put it out. After a minute of stretching her tight muscles, Frisk looked around for Chara. He was nowhere in sight. Frowning, Frisk began to search for him. She recalled that he could only be so far from the locket, giving her no reason to fear losing him for good, but she thought it would be polite to find him first before continuing her journey.

Frisk searched through the trees and behind every pile of snow. No sign of Chara. She furrowed her brows. Wherever Chara wandered off to, it was no place close.

Deciding to get back to searching for a town of some sorts, Frisk ventured forward. She would find Chara eventually. Or he would find her. Either way, it would only be a matter of time before their paths would be reunited.

Sure enough, she had walked for no more than five minutes before she found Chara standing still in front of what appeared to be a sentry station. It was similar enough to San's for her to know what it was, but it clearly was someone else's. Someone who would not be likely to spare her. Frisk felt her heart rate increase.

"Where you here this whole time?" Frisk asked in a whisper. She didn't see anyone save Chara around, but she didn't plan on risking her voice carrying to somebody who could be nearby.

"Not really," Chara answered, his voice normal volume. He shrugged. "After you fell asleep, I thought I would journey ahead. Of course I couldn't go far, but I knew you were awake because I noticed that I was able to go farther and farther."

Frisk rose an eyebrow. "You knew I was coming, yet you continued moving forwards anyway?"

"I was scouting ahead, looking for danger. What? That's good enough to get a 'thank you' from your majesty, isn't it?"

"Fine. Thank you. Now did you find anything?"

Nodding his head toward the station, Chara said, "Just this."

"Anyone behind it?"

"Do you really think I took the time to lean over this pathetic, ugly station just to see if someone was behind it?" Chara wrinkled his nose. "I have no need to do such a thing."

"Well, Chara, I would like to know if we're alone or not." Frisk put her hands on her hips. "I'm the only one who can see you, so it would be safer for you to check than it would be for me."

Rolling his eyes, Chara said, "In case you have forgotten, Stripes, I am your guide. All I'm supposed to do is get you out of here. Anything else is not in my job description."

With a slight shake of her head, Frisk decided that it would be better to not argue. She could check herself, but that was not a risk she wanted to take. Instead she walked as quietly as possible past the sentry station. Blood rushed through her ears, her heart louder than any drum she had ever heard. There was probably nothing to fear, but Frisk would have rather been safe than sorry.

"Did something move? Was it my imagination?"

Frisk froze mid step. Those words did not come from Chara's mouth. The speaker was one whose voice Frisk did not recognize.

"I can only see moving things."

 _Riddoch syndrome._ Frisk remembered learning about ocular affections in one of Toriel's health science books. Choking back on the scream that rose up at the realization, Frisk forced her stiff muscles pumped with blood like ice water to remain as still as possible. As bad idea it was to remain only a yard away from an enemy, running would be a worse one given the circumstances.

"If something _was_ moving," the voice continued, "for example, a human . . . I'll make sure it _never_ moves again."

Against her better judgement, Frisk rotated her head slightly. She had to keep from dropping her jaw. _A dog!_ The last time Frisk had seen a dog, she lived on the surface. To see a dog now – even an anthropomorphic one – was a bigger surprise than if the monster had been the most ridiculous thing she had ever seen.

The dog had white fur and a bushy tail. He wore leopard print pants, a pink tank top, a black mask, and a red scarf around his throat. Wielding twin blades, the dog emerged from behind his post and sniffed the air.

"Who's there?!" he barked.

Remaining practically motionless, Frisk looked to Chara for help. He could move and talk all he wanted: if anyone was able to find a way out of this situation, it was him. However, Chara seemed uninterested in helping.

"Maybe if you play fetch with him, he will leave you alone," Chara suggested, and the smirk on his face told Frisk that Chara understood his advice was unhelpful.

She furrowed her brows and pulled the corners of her lips downwards, using her facial expressions to communicate with Chara. Replying in the same way, Chara narrowed his eyes and pinched his brows together. Desperation growing by the second, Frisk allowed her panic to show.

The dog still sniffed the air. His sense of smell, which was supposed to be better than his eyesight even if it were not afflicted, seemed to be of no use to him. There was no denying the dog was aware he was not alone, but he could neither identify the new scent or tell from which direction it came.

"Where are you?" he asked, his voice just above a growl. Frisk wondered if the dog really was expecting someone to wave and answer, "I'm over here!"

Finally, after what felt like a long time of mental debate, Chara answered, "Throw something from your pack, and while the dog is distracted, make a run for it in the opposite direction."

It wasn't the best advice, but it was all Frisk had. Moving slowly, Frisk stuck a hand into her pack and felt around for something that not only she could live without but also could be thrown pretty far. She wrapped her fingers around one of the cans of food she took from Toriel's pantry before she left. As much as Frisk didn't want to lose any food on this journey of unknown length, the food would be of no use to her if she was dead.

Now moving quickly, Frisk threw the can with all her might. She froze as soon as the can left her grasp. All there was to do now was hope the dog would fall for it.

The trick worked. Frisk's movement caught the dog's attention, but his focus remained on the can as it soared across the sky. Now was the time to run.

Wasting no time, Frisk burst into a sprint and hoped to get as far away as possible before the dog could notice her. If he did, she would have to stop moving again. Frisk hoped that would not be the case. Certainly throwing a can across the way would not work a second time.

It didn't feel like too long when the dog called out, "There you are!"

Frisk looked over her shoulder just in time to see two blue blades hurling towards her. They were long and thin, and they were coming in fast. Dodging them seemed unlikely.

"I have seen this type of magic before!" Chara said as he ran beside Frisk. "Blue attacks won't hurt you as long as you keep moving."

All Frisk could do to reply was nod in understanding as she kept pushing her legs to carry her forward. The dog seemed to have no interest in chasing her; he was content in letting his weapons fly towards the human. It could have been her imagination, but Frisk thought she heard the dog say, "You won't be moving for much longer, human."

Whether the words were truly spoken or not, they acted as a prophecy for Frisk. She cried out when an excruciating pain sliced through her midsection, and she gagged on the blood that rushed up her throat and out her mouth. One second she was upright and running, and the next she lied in the snow. Inside her was no desire to inspect the pain that began in her stomach and spread throughout her body. Frisk already knew the blades had pierced right through her.

"Oops, silly me." Chara stood over her, a wide smirk growing upon his twisted face. "I think I may have gotten that backwards. Blue attacks are useless when you remain completely still. They can only cause damage to moving things."

"You . . . lied to me." Each word came out as a raspy gurgle. Tears, both of pain and betrayal, stung Frisk's eyes and ran hot down her face. She could see red – her blood – stretching out to stain the snow.

Chara knelt and looked Frisk in the eye. His smile didn't falter. "Did you really think I was going to help you escape? Did you really think I, the one who was left to be forgotten after you entered the picture, was to be trusted? You really are stupider than you look, Stripes. I was only pretending to help. The whole time I was truly just waiting for an opportunity to get rid of you, and here we are. Why, this actually happened faster than I was expecting."

Whatever Frisk was supposed to feel at this, it was clouded out by her pain and the darkening world around her. She knew death was coming. Soon she would be dead, and Chara would get what he wanted. It was enough to put a smile on Frisk's face. Chara's smirk fell and was replaced by a screwed up demeanor. Had Frisk possessed the energy in her quickly failing body, she would have forced out a humorless laugh.

"What's wrong with you?" Chara asked. "You look a little too happy to die."

"I told you I have a secret," was all Frisk answered.

"I don't see how having a secret helps you out of this situation," Chara said, his confusion not fading.

As she submerged into the inky abyss, Frisk used her last breath to whisper, "See you soon." Her last conscious thought was that she wished she could have seen the look on Chara's face when he heard her utter those haunting words.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

Having been indulged with her studies, it was with a jolt that Frisk tore her eyes away from the stack of books she hovered over and onto Toriel. The monster had yelped in surprise, scaring Frisk for the half second, and started using an oven mitt to beat out the fire on the stove. Once the flames had ceased, Toriel breathed heavily as she muttered words too soft spoken for Frisk to hear.

"What happened?" Frisk asked, setting her pencil onto the open notebook. Her monster mother may have possessed fire magic, but she never accidentally lost control of it, let alone start any fires. "Are you okay, Mom?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine," Toriel insisted. "I was merely distracted – a safety hazard I shall not repeat."

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with, my child," Toriel answered, another one of her small smiles on her face. It may have been Frisk's imagination, but this smile seemed somewhat sad. "I merely forgot what today is."

Curious, Frisk questioned, "What is today?" She shifted through the birthdays of all the monsters she knew, flipping through the memories as if pages in a book. When no birthdates lined up, Frisk said, "There's something you planned to do today that you forgot about until now, right?"

"I suppose you could say that." Toriel returned her attention to the stove and again heated the pot, careful to not burn the soup she was making.

"I don't think it's too late to do whatever it is you need to do," Frisk offered, wanting to be of assistance. "I can help, if you need it."

"That won't be necessary, my child," Toriel replied, her gentle tone never changing. "This is something I need to do myself. Now please, continue your studies. There is nothing for you to worry about."

"Yes, mom," Frisk remembered herself saying.

As the white snow and Chara's face faded to black, Frisk wasn't sure why, in her dying moments, the memory was worth flashing before her eyes. It had happened the past summer, but the events leading up to it and following were of no immediate importance. All Frisk had to grasp was the date of the memory.

 _June 25._

She never did figure out why that date was so important to Toriel.

* * *

For a moment, all was black. An endless void. There was no sight, touch, or smell. The sound was both faintly loud and deafening silent. There was . . . nothing.

Then, as if she had jumped into a tub of icy water, Frisk's senses overwhelmed her. She bolted upright with a harsh gasp. Wincing in pain, she wrapped her arms around her midsection. The ghost of the wound that killed her lingered still, but it would fade within the minute. The pain always did.

As the pain vanished, Frisk felt the sturdy trunk behind her and the snow beneath her. Cold seeped into her skin and down into her bones, encouraging her to remove her arms from around her waist and upwards to above her elbows. Frisk shivered as she hugged herself and drew the blanket closer.

 _Well,_ she decided, _I'd rather be cold than dead._

"How did . . . ?"

Snapping her head towards the speaker of the unfinished question, Frisk saw Chara staring at her. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. He looked her up and down as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What's wrong, Chara?" Frisk asked, pretending her anger at the boy was nonexistent.

"How did you-? How are you-?" Chara grit his teeth. " _You should be dead._ "

It was Frisk's turn for her mouth to hang open. "You remember?!"

"Of course I remember!" Chara answered, his words snapping like dried twigs. "That spear went right through you. How did you heal yourself? How are you still breathing?"

All Frisk could do was shake her head. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know, and where is that stupid dog? Wait-!" Looking around, actually seeing where they were, Chara said, "We're back near the beginning. This is the place you decided to rest, and now we're back." Eyes narrowed to slits, Chara glared at Frisk. "How did you do that?"

Again, Frisk shook her head. "I really don't know. It just . . . happens." It was her turn to glare. "And it's a good thing, too. I can't believe you would betray me like that. You betrayed Mom's trust by getting me killed!"

Chara didn't seem to care for Frisk's anger. He waved his hand in the air as if wiping away the subject and pressed on with his earlier questions. "What do you mean you don't know how you did that? You died, and now you're alive again as if the whole event never happened!"

"Because it didn't!" Jumping to her feet, Frisk looked Chara dead in the eye. If she couldn't take out her anger by calling out his shameful actions, she would throw the answers to his questions at him as if they were weapons. She wouldn't sit below him as she did it, either.

"The day just resets," Frisk explained, her words bitter. "Every time I die, the day starts over. Nobody remembers what happened because to them, it never did happen in the first place. Only I know. Well . . . ," Frisk sighed, "until today, only I knew."

Clenching his fingers, Chara asked, "So you mean to tell me that you have died before?"

"Multiple times," Frisk answered, monotone.

"And every time you die, the day just resets, and you're alive again?"

"It would seem so."

Whatever was going on inside Chara's head, he didn't let it show. Frisk carefully studied every little movement of his face, but his demeanor betrayed nothing. It was impossible for her to tell if he was angry, frustrated, or annoyed.

"We had better get moving." Frisk picked up her backpack and stuffed her blanket inside it. "Now that I know more, we should be able to make up the distance we lost and then some."

At first it appeared Chara was not going to follow, but soon enough he walked side-by-side with her. _He can't be too far from the locket,_ Frisk recalled. Chara was just as stuck with her as she was with him. Saying nothing, Frisk stopped to pick up a large stick she found under the trees. She dragged it idly behind her, her mind wandering in hundreds of different directions.

"You're lying," Chara said after they had been walking for a while, his words breaking the silence. "You do know how to come back from death."

"What convinces you I'm lying?" Frisk asked, her voice quiet since she knew they were not too far from the dog that killed her.

"Nobody just comes back from the dead," Chara answered. "You're not the only human who died in the Underground, so why are you the only one able to reset? The only explanation is that one way or another, you found a way to die and yet not remain dead."

Frisk snorted. "You have an overactive imagination."

"You are hiding more than what you're willing to tell me."

"Can't you say the same, Chara?" Frisk glared at the boy. "How did you die?" At Chara's failure to answer, Frisk mumbled, "That's what I thought."

When they came to the dog's station again, Frisk was careful to remain completely still as the dog – Doggo, if the name on the tag Frisk failed to notice before really was the guard's name – talked about how he knew someone was there even if he could not see them. This time sparing the can of food, Frisk hurled the stick as far as she could. To her surprise, Doggo chased after the stick and came back with it in his mouth.

 _He really is no different from a normal dog,_ Frisk thought as Doggo dropped the "ghost stick." Careful to remain as still as possible while preforming necessary movements, Frisk threw the stick a few more times. Had this not been an enemy who could turn on her if she moved wrongly, Frisk might have laughed.

"A stick appeared out of nowhere, then disappeared," Doggo said after he had dropped the stick the last time and Frisk didn't attempt to pick it back up. "Was it a ghost stick? Did I just return it to the afterlife? I need some dog treats to think about this."

Speaking not another word, Doggo walked back to his sentry station and disappeared behind it. Before long, the sound of snoring came from behind the counter. Frisk almost snorted in amusement.

Humming softly, Frisk made her way down the road. That was only one danger avoided. There was no telling how many other monsters could kill her just as easily as Doggo had. Maybe even easier.

"You have got to be kidding." Chara grumbled as he walked alongside her. "Did that really just happen?"

"At least I made it out alive this time, no thanks to you," Frisk said. She decided to pretend it wasn't Chara's idea to play fetch in the first place. "I'm certain you can agree that dying once is already terrible enough. Imagine dying multiple times. Even though I come back, it's still in my best interest to keep from dying."

Chara didn't reply. Such was fine with Frisk. She was still not over his murder attempt, and she felt no sympathy in comforting him over the ability she could not control.

For a while, they traveled in silence. When they stopped, it was because there were large spikes protruding from the ground, blocking the path. "A puzzle!" Frisk exclaimed after reading the sign. "All I have to do is turn all the Xs to circles."

"Except you only have two Xs to worry about." Chara snorted. "This is perhaps the easiest puzzle in the world."

"Yes," Frisk reluctantly agreed. After half a minute of observing the circles and the rocks surrounding them, there was no denying that all Frisk needed to do was step on one X, make a complete one-eighty, walk to the other side of the rocks, and step on the final X. When she tried the solution and flipped the switch, the spikes fell without protest.

"That was anti-climactic," Frisk mumbled, disappointed. "I was hoping for a real puzzle."

"What is it with you and puzzles?" Chara shook his head. "Toriel often mentioned that you have this weird obsession with them."

Frisk didn't respond. She had no interest in talking to Chara. If only he felt the same.

"Are you going to be mad at me forever?" he asked as Frisk walked past the fallen spikes. "What? Is replying to me not worth your time anymore? Am I nothing to you now?"

Instead of answering, Frisk let Chara continue. Part of her wanted to yank off the locket to get some peace of mind, but she didn't. That must have been what Chara wanted, and when she was ready to wear the locket again, he would return to bothering her as if he never stopped. As much as he irritated Frisk, she knew her best bet was to let him get it out of his system now.

Frisk and the chatting Chara walked through the white blanket. When they came across another circle and X puzzle, Frisk was happy that this one was set up in a more challenging fashion. In the span of ten minutes, she solved it. However, any joy she might have in completing the puzzle was gone before it began. After Frisk flipped the switch, a hot red flare shot upwards and exploded like a firework.

"The puzzle was a trap," Chara observed, speaking Frisk's thoughts.

"It was still necessary to solve to progress, though." Frisk shook her head. "We have to keep moving. Now that they know we're here – whoever _they_ are – they will be coming. There is no time to lose."

"Well," Chara began as Frisk quickly moved forward and slightly off the path, "if they kill you, it won't be long before you come back again."

* * *

Far away from the humans, hiding away the barrier that kept them all trapped Underground, stood a large palace reflecting the little light that entered under the mountain. Inside the castle sat a monster of a king. He was large, complete with wide shoulders and a strong jaw. A red cape hung from his shoulders, and a red trident was in his massive paw. His golden flowers surrounded him – a reminder. A tormenter.

"You heard rumors of a human," he spoke with his powerful voice to the cowering monsters below him, "and troubled yourselves to find one, but come back to me empty handed?"

Two monsters, both built nearly as strong as the king himself, trembled in their armor. The one with rabbit ears coming from his metal helmet responded. "There are witness reports that a human was indeed living in the Ruins. Some monsters deny the existence of a human, but who says they can be trusted? Like, none of the residents in the Ruins claim loyalty to the king. Any one of those monsters could lie by saying there is no human."

The king narrowed his eyes. "But did you see a human?"

"Oh, well, you see, the thing about that is . . ." The guard shuddered under the intense gaze of his king. "No."

Roaring, the king shot to his feet and slammed the butt of his trident onto the ground. "You waste my time and resources over a silly rumor instead of first looking to see if it was true? Idiots! There have been countless rumors of a human Underground since we got our sixth soul over thirty years ago. Now that we need just one more, everyone is driven by wishful thinking. You have to first prove your sources before you can act on them!"

"Y-y-yes, sire." The guards bowed low to the ground. Neither one dared mention that they saw the former queen in the Ruins. Even though her refusal to surrender anyone to the royal guard was testament enough she was indeed hiding a human, neither spoke it. Mention of the king's ex-wife always put him in a sour mood, and it was decided to save the news of her disposal until after he had calmed down.

Before the king could say another word, another guard rushed in. Seeing that the king was in one of his moods, the guard dropped to the floor and exclaimed, "Forgive me, O king! We have just received word from someone who desires to remain anonymous. There is supposedly a human Underground after all, and it is on Snowdin Road!"

The king frowned. "How can we be sure the word is true? We are still in the process of settling the last false alarm."

"Because live feedback from our hidden cameras prove the tip to be true. They were checked after somebody set off a flare on the road." The guard sat up, her gloved claws digging into the tiled floor. "There is a lone human Underground. It is on its way to Snowdin right now. If we don't hesitate to act, we can have our final soul and be freed from our prison within mere days."

For a moment, none spoke. The king sat again on his throne, pondering and considering. If the human truly was on Snowdin Road, then perhaps the rumors of a human in the Ruins were true after all. Not that the king had any plans to tell the guards cowering at his feet such.

"I will go," said a disfigured voice within the shadows. From the darkened corner emerged the captain of the royal guard. Beating a fist against the armor over her chest, the captain said, "It will be a great honor to claim the final soul. Or if you prefer, great king, I can bring the human back here for you to have. Either way, I think this is a job best given to someone who won't leave without first checking all the corners." The last statement was clearly meant to speak of the other guards, who whimpered at the harsh words.

The king looked his captain up and down. His royal captain was the best of the best – maybe even better than him, not that he would ever admit it to anyone. Perhaps sending the captain will be more beneficial to him than going to retrieve the human soul himself.

"Very well, Undyne," he told her. "Bring the human back alive if you can, but I won't complain if you bring its soul instead."

The captain, Undyne, bowed low.

"But," the king cut in, his words sharp, "if you can't come back with the human, then don't come back at all. From here on, failure to capture and kill the human is punishable by execution. Am I understood?"

Grinning underneath her helmet, Undyne said with all cockiness dressed as confidence, "Perfectly clear. King Asgore, when I return, you shall finally become a god."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6_**

"I don't like this," Frisk mumbled to herself. "It's been a day since we set off the trap. Where are the Reds?"

"What is it with this 'we' stuff?" Chara snorted. " _You're_ the one who set off the alarm. Not me. Not we. You."

Frisk ignored him. That seemed to sum up their entire relationship. She would think something aloud, Chara would make a snide comment, and in return, she would ignore whatever it was he said. Sometimes Frisk wondered why she still wore the locket. If she really wanted the best for herself, she would have discarded the locket, and Chara's presence as a result, immediately after he had killed her. Yet she still kept him close.

For a while Frisk began to wonder if the snow as far as they eye could see would ever end. She and Chara had left the Ruins two days prior, yet they seemed to make no progress. There had not been many monsters around, either. Amongst the snow and occasional puzzle, Frisk and Chara saw a few dog houses. Not one looked as if it had been lived in for a long time. It wasn't until Frisk saw a sign that morning did her hopes start rising.

 _North: Ice_

 _South: Ice_

 _West: Ice_

 _East: Snowdin Town . . . (and ice)_

"A town!" she couldn't help but exclaim. Frisk didn't forget that it was highly possible every resident of that same town would not hesitate to kill her, but she was ready to see some form of community again. Anything was better than being all alone in the ice with someone as annoying as Chara for company.

"How much longer until we get to Snowdin?" Frisk asked after an hour passed with no sight of the town.

"I don't know. I think I left my map at home." Chara smirked at the glare Frisk sent him. Demeanor serious, he answered, "Truth be told, Stripes, this isn't right. This place feels so . . . deserted. Other than those skeleton freaks from outside the Ruins and that blind dog, there's nobody here. If there really is a town so close by, where are its residents? I don't like this. There's definitely something wrong."

Taking a deep breath, Frisk kept moving forward. There had to be an end to this abandoned silence. There had to be.

* * *

The place was buzzing with excitement. Drinks were passed around. Glasses were clanked together. It was always that way when he came. After all, he was the life of whatever party these monsters thought was going on.

"It's been ages since we've seen ya 'round, Sans," said a monster that resembled a cross between a wolf and a tiger. "What brings ya back 'ere?"

Sans, wearing his hood up, slid a lazy eye to his companion. "Just felt like stopping by, visiting friends. Y'know how it is."

The wolf-tiger chuckled. "What friends? Ya might be popular with us regulars, but ya sure as 'ell 'ave no friends." He downed the drink Sans bought him. "But ey, if 'aving ya 'round means free drinks, I ain't complaining."

Shooing the other monster away and tuning out the world around him, Sans twirled the glass he held in hand and watched the amber liquid swirl within. He had not been able to stop thinking about that human. She had to be the one he was on the lookout for, but there was no way to be sure. The woman he talked to through the door to the Ruins every day for years had not been there either that day or the one prior. Her absence had Sans unnerved, and this human's coinciding appearance did nothing to settle his unease.

This woman, whose name he did not know – he never thought to ask, all but begged him to protect any human that ever came to the Underground, and like the fool he was, Sans made her that promise. Of course, he had been doing much of keeping his promise, but he didn't outright kill the human, either. He felt as if that was good enough.

Yet there was something Sans could not understand. This human – Frisk, he believed she called herself – seemed to actually trust him. Maybe she was simply gullible, and Sans was more than willing to believe such, but it was the fact she thanked him for hiding her from Papyrus that Sans could not understand. Gratitude was just something very few, if any at all, ever showed, yet she demonstrated it so naturally.

"Hey, Sansy."

Through the corner of his eye socket, Sans saw a yellow rabbit monster with swirled eyes sitting next to him. "Hey, Buncrazy," he greeted, sounding a lot more cheerful than he felt.

"Papyrus called," she told him, cutting straight to business. "He wants to know why you're not answering your cell. He just got word that _she_ is coming for an important mission, and you need to clean your socks out of the living room."

If Sans had eyes, he would have rolled them. "The world might as well be ending, and his main concern is Undyne will see my dirty socks?"

Buncrazy laughed and slapped Sans on the back. Sometimes Sans wondered if her laughter was genuine or if she was trying too hard to seem impressed by his jokes. "The captain of the royal guard isn't someone to mess with, Sansy."

"I think I can handle her," Sans said. It was Papyrus, who undoubtedly would be trying very hard to be a part of Undyne's "important mission," he was worried about. Ever since Papyrus's failure as a royal guardsman, he made a reputation for going far out of his way to win back the favor he had lost. Sans didn't know how Undyne was going to handle Papyrus when she arrived or the days following.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable," Buncrazy said. "You heard the rumors, right?"

Of course Sans heard the rumors. Every monster in the Underground has heard the rumors. Even the monsters living under rocks have heard the rumors. "What rumors?" he asked.

Leaning in close and whispering loudly, Buncrazy answered, "There's a human Underground. A human, Sansy! If the rumors are true, then we're that much closer to making it to the surface. We can finally be free!"

"Oh, I haven't heard," Sans replied as if he didn't care all that much. "After so many false claims, I learned to just tune out any word of humans in the Underground." Such was true. Had he not seen Frisk himself, he would just as easily wave away this rumor as he had the previous others. "I wouldn't get my hopes up, if I were you," Sans suggested, not sure what he meant by those words.

Buncrazy shrugged. "I don't know. There must be some credibility to these rumors. After all, it is quite the coincidence the captain of the royal guard herself would be coming to stay with you the exact same time these rumors started to circulate."

That was what Sans was afraid of. "It is quite a coincidence," he agreed.

Showing all of her large, pointy teeth in a toothy smile, Buncrazy merely said before moving on, "I hope I get to see the human before Undyne slays it. I've never seen one before."

As the rabbit monster sashayed away, Sans pondered over the last thing Buncrazy said. _Never seen a human, huh? She probably wouldn't even know Frisk is one if they ever happened across each other._ The thought rose questions inside of Sans's head. Glancing around the room full of laughing, drinking monsters, he asked himself, _How many of them would recognize Frisk as a human if they saw her?_

* * *

"There's got to be an end to this," Frisk murmured nearly a few hours after she found the sign. "Where is Snowdin? I'm sure we should have come across it by now."

"You are going East, right?" Chara asked.

To Frisk's surprise, Chara seemed less energetic than usual. Normally whatever emotion he shared was intentional, calculated. Frisk could tell whenever someone was showing genuine emotions or not, and every single emotion Chara had shown before, minus the incident on the stairs at home or shortly after with Flowey, was a mask he wore. Now the mask was gone, revealing someone who was just as ready to find the town as Frisk.

"I'm not sure. I think so," Frisk answered. "Toriel didn't have a compass, or else I would have brought it."

Chara didn't reply. Now that he wasn't irritating her so much, Frisk snuck glances at the human every now and again and tried to figure him out. Sometimes he was annoying, other times he was malicious, and now he was exhibiting hardly anything. _What is he really feeling?_ Frisk thought. _Can he feel anything at all? Or has his state left him to only imitate emotions?_

There was still the matter of how he came to be. Chara died, King Asgore tried to take his soul, and Toriel stole his soul from the king and had it infused with the locket. _Chara's_ own locket, as he claimed. Such was enough for Frisk to gather that the locket she wore, clearly designed for a child, had to have been Chara's when he was a kid. However, the discovery only brought up more questions than answers. Frisk chewed on her lower lip.

 _What if I tried to ask Chara about his past? Would he get defensive, snap at me to mind my own business, or just ignore me?_ Catching another glance of Chara from the corner of her eye, Frisk sighed through her nose. _He doesn't seem to be the type to share anything personal. Asking would be useless. If I'm going to figure any of this out, I need to find another way._

"Stripes!"

Chara's sharp voice drawing her back to reality, Frisk blurted "What?" and looked at the boy.

"Welcome back to earth." Chara rolled his eyes. "As I was trying to ask: Do you see it, too? Up ahead? I think it might be the change of scenery we were looking for."

Staring ahead, Frisk saw what Chara referred to. These weren't trees or dog houses or puzzles, but something else entirely. Frisk couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. "Buildings!" she whispered before sprinting towards the town.

It was foolish to run straight into potential danger. Frisk knew it, yet she did not care. All her logic was lost. There was a town in this abyss of snow, and she had finally reached it. If she died before she made it, she would always come back and rush for the town again. Now that she knew it was here after all, nothing could stop her from reaching it.

Yet as she neared, Frisk sensed that something was not right. The closer she got, the more she could sense the wrongness. Her run slowed to a jog, and then a trudge not long after. Closer and closer she got, the wrongness making more and more sense with each step. Tears welled up Frisk's eyes, her throat in pain from the lump that swelled inside.

"What happened here?" Chara asked, standing just behind Frisk and voicing her very thoughts.

Frisk didn't stop as she entered what was supposed to be Snowdin. She almost couldn't believe what was before her. Instead of seeing a small town bustling with activity, she entered the charred remains of a community burned out of existence.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7_**

"What _did_ happen here?" Frisk asked as she walked deeper into what was left of Snowdin. All that remained was charred and blackened. There were piles of rubble, possibly from buildings that seemed to have collapsed in on themselves.

"There must have been a fire," Chara answered after he and Frisk spent a few minutes wandering the ruins. "I'm no expert on town destruction, but . . . ," Chara shrugged, "all the evidence points to a massive fire that destroyed everything."

"I don't doubt you," Frisk said, "but why was there a fire? Was it an accident, like a gas leak, or was it . . . something else? Did everyone make it out in time?" Slowly, Frisk placed her hand on one of the blackened beams. "Whenever this fire happened, it wasn't recent," she told Chara. "This thing is as cold as the air around it."

Chara didn't reply, and Frisk decided against conversation. Until she knew what to do from there, Frisk dug in the snow in search of something to give any sort of hint about the fire. Chara all the while kept lookout, but Frisk didn't trust him enough for her to not keep an eye open for herself.

"What do you make of these?" Frisk asked Chara much later when she came across a bandana and a toy knife, both buried deep within the snow. "They both look a little, I don't know, human." Frisk snorted as she observed the items further. "This bandana has abs drawn on it. How manly."

After observing what Frisk was holding for no more than a second, Chara looked away and said, "I think you should discard them."

Frisk frowned. "You hardly looked at them."

"I don't need to inspect them to know you don't need them."

"But what if I want to keep them?"

"Certainly you don't want such useless things taking up room in your inventory. Throw them away."

Furrowing her brows, Frisk pointed out, "You know a thing or two about these items, don't you? I mean, you won't even look at them, and you insist I toss them aside. You know something you're not telling me."

Without looking at Frisk, Chara replied, "I suppose nobody has informed you that you and I aren't the only humans to have fallen Underground."

Something about Chara's words made Frisk's heart stop. "There are others?" she whispered.

" _Were_ others," Chara corrected. "Some have met the same fate as me, and the rest weren't as fortunate. You aren't the first human Toriel has taken in, but each one has left, and every one has died. Well, your story isn't finished yet, but I think you see where I'm going with this. That's why I need you to throw away the toy knife and the manly bandana. I don't . . . want reminders following me around."

Frisk didn't press Chara for any more. Doing as he wanted, Frisk buried the items back under the snow and continued searching the remains for anything else. Finding an area on the edge of town, Frisk begun digging. The scraps she did find told her that this used to be a home, a thought that saddened her. Yet nothing prepared her for what she found.

"What are you screaming your head off about?" Chara demanded as he casually walked towards Frisk, who was shrieking as if she had been stabbed.

Tears rushing down her face, Frisk wordlessly pointed at the bone she had dug up. When Chara didn't react, she almost wanted to scream at him. _Why can't you see how awful this is?! Someone didn't make it out! Someone was burnt alive, and you don't even care?!_ "Don't you see this?" she whispered in horror instead, heart racing.

Chara walked closer and knelt by the bone. "Wipe away more snow," he told Frisk. At the sight of her paling face, Chara demanded, "Just do it, okay? I'm not telling you to touch the bone. Just the snow around it."

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Frisk reached out and did as Chara ordered. She gagged when she saw more bones, but Chara urged her to keep going. Frisk kept digging and digging, unveiling more bones. Yet the more she dug, the less sick she became. All the bones didn't make up a skeleton. All the bones resembled femurs.

"Hmm," Chara hummed. "Exactly as I thought."

Frisk wrinkled her nose. Just because this wasn't a skeleton didn't mean the bones didn't come from something dead. "Aren't you at all disgusted by this?"

"Not really." Chara didn't sound anything except uninterested. "I knew a skeleton monster once, back when I was alive. Those types of monsters can magically create bones to use as weapons. Down here, a pile of bones doesn't necessarily come from dead individuals. For all we know, a skeleton monster just happened to live here." When he saw Frisk gagging, Chara huffed and added, "You remember how Toriel died, don't you?"

A sharp pain pierced through Frisk's heart. "Please don't remind me," she whispered.

"No, you need the reminder," Chara insisted. "She turned to ash and scattered to a million pieces, did she not?"

Now Frisk really felt as if she were going to vomit. "Yes, she did."

"That's what happens to all monsters when they die," Chara continued. "They turn to ash and scatter in the wind. If anyone died here – well, any monster – you wouldn't find any remains for a body because there wouldn't be one. Anyone who died here is long since ash now."

Frisk knew she was going to spill up her lunch if she didn't start thinking of something else. Instead of dwelling on Chara's claim, she chose to continue her searching, careful wherever she dug. Fortunately, there were no more bones to be found after that incident.

After an hour of digging, the things Frisk discovered that she chose to take with her were a rock, a cat-girl action figure, and a note not too badly damaged by fire with handwriting she could not decipher. She showed the note to Chara, but he couldn't make out the penmanship, either. Nothing about these items was special, but the sight of them surviving such massive destruction filled her with determination.

"Why are you taking those worthless items?" Chara asked after Frisk finished searching and began to move forward again.

Shrugging, Frisk answered, "I don't know. Maybe I want something tangible to hold onto, something that proves there was life here once. Whether or not the residents made it out alive, nobody lives here now. I think that alone is really sad."

"You're whole life is really sad."

"Come on, Chara. You don't usually aim that low."

"Oh, so you're encouraging me to torment you now, Stripes?"

"I'm just trying desperately to grasp onto something normal, whatever normal is."

As they made their way out of the dead town, Frisk chewed the inside of her cheek. The town was her only hope of finding someplace to hide until she figured out her next course of action. The journey to the surface was not going to be a short one, Frisk knew that much, and the only strategy she had to hold onto was to make everything up as she went along.

To her surprise, it wasn't much longer before the end of all the snow came in sight. "Am I hallucinating," she asked Chara, "or are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Spring has arrived at last," Chara replied. It pleased Frisk that even he sounded relieved. "Waterfall is up ahead. It's dark and murky, but it's way more of a sight than all this snow."

Whatever fatigue Frisk thought she felt immediately vanished the way it did when she first came across what was left of Snowdin. She began running forward, discarding all safety precautions. It wasn't a town, but it was a change of scenery.

"What's that smell?"

Frisk stopped, heart in her throat. _Oh, no. Not again._

Two large, cloaked dogs emerged from the shadows. Even from a few yards away, Frisk knew they would stand over her. Both wielded large axes, their cloaks were a bright red, and neither looked particularly friendly.

The larger of the two dogs took a massive step forward and said in a voice exactly like a growl, "Identify yoursmelf!"

All Chara said was, "You know, I used to like dogs until today."

Knowing the standing still trick would not work on these two, Frisk turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Neither dog hesitated to give chase. She heard them getting closer. As she returned to the remains of the burnt town, all Frisk could think was the same thought over and over. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._

 _Not again._

"They're gaining on you," Chara said, running alongside her. He didn't seem concerned. Only amused. "Might as well give up. You'll come back anyway, so why not be their chew toy for a little while."

"You'd just _love_ to see that, wouldn't you!" Frisk spat. She didn't listen to hear if Chara responded. Instead she heard her own screams tear out of her as white and blue hearts shot at her, shredding her skin and choking her with pain.

She stumbled, but Frisk regained her balance and kept running forward. Blood soaked through her sweater, and her leggings were now as cut up as her legs. As hurt as she was, she was not dead. That alone was motivation to keep going and to find some way of escape.

Only escape didn't seem evitable. She could almost feel the dogs' hot breaths against the back of her neck. Chara's taunting laughter rose. There had to be another way out, and Frisk had to find it fast.

Without thinking, Frisk picked up a lose board the size of her arm, one end pointed. She spun around in time to see the smaller dog, ax in hand, lunging at her. There was no time to do anything save react. Not even a scream came from Frisk as the strike hit.

The ax dug into her side, resting just above her hip. Blood poured out immediately and quickly. Yet she didn't feel the pain. What had Frisk's attention was the dog before her, frozen mid-swing, staring at the human girl with disbelief.

Drowning in her own doubt, Frisk looked down. Buried deep inside the dog's chest was the broken board, the sharp end submerged in the dog's body. Holding the board were hands that looked like Frisk's, and they were connected to familiar arms connecting further to Frisk's own body.

 _No._

A single tear falling from the dog's eye, the dog made a pained whimper before turning white and falling away into tiny pieces, never to be put back together.

"No," Frisk whispered, unaware of the ax falling out of her side, prompting more blood to flow from the wound.

When she noticed the other dog behind the vanished one, watching with just as much shock as Frisk was, she expected the dog to lurch forward and deliver the killing blow. Even so, she didn't raise the board to threaten the dog against such actions. She didn't even drop it despite how heavy her arms were becoming. All Frisk did was stand there, too stunned to do anything.

"My wife," the remaining dog whimpered. "My hot dog. . . ." What Frisk expected was for the dog to avenge his wife right then, but he surprised her further by throwing down his ax and saying, "Finish it already. If you have any mercy within you, take me out of this world where my beloved isn't."

Dumbstruck, Frisk merely muttered, "I-I'm sorry. I di-didn't mean to. It was an acci-cident." Her vision grew black. It wouldn't be long before she died again.

"If you won't deliver the blow," the dog said, picking his ax back up, "then I will."

"You better run if you want to live," Chara advised, but Frisk ignored him. He didn't see what she did. He didn't know and couldn't predict what was obvious to Frisk.

"Don't!" Frisk shouted, lurching forward, but it was already too late.

Without a second's hesitation, the dog fell onto his ax. Frisk gaped in horror as this dog, too, became chalk white and broke apart into millions of little pieces. This time, Frisk really did vomit.

Dropping the board and falling to her hands and knees, Frisk retched and retched until there was nothing left in her stomach. Then she began to cry. What was left of her ever-darkening vision was lost to the burning tears that spilled from her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Chara demanded roughly. "It was them or you. Why are you so upset that you lived and they died? There was no other way this could have ended."

Maybe it was the weight of the guilt, or perhaps it was the loss of her blood, but Frisk could not put her thoughts into spoken words. _They didn't have to die. No one did. I would have come back, but they're gone forever. It didn't have to be this way, so why is it this way?_

"I see," she heard Chara's voice say as the world grew darker still. "This was your first, wasn't it?" He sighed. "I understand. I really do."

With no fight left in her, Frisk collapsed into the snow, beside the pile of ashes that would soon mix with the snow and leave no evidence that the dogs ever existed. She kept crying and crying, barely able to breathe. If Chara spoke to her, she didn't hear it. There was no world outside of the recent deaths and her sobbing. Soon enough her own death would follow, but her guilt and shame would not die with her.

Then the footsteps came. They couldn't have belonged to Chara – Chara didn't make footsteps, let alone leave footprints. Someone might have come to avenge the dogs. Frisk was okay with it. There was no reason for her to care about anything anymore. All she did was quiet her sobs enough to listen to the new arrival. Thanks to the blood loss, her vision was already as good as gone.

Approaching footsteps.

Stop.

A sigh.

Nothing.

More footsteps, closer now.

Stop.

A shift of weight.

Frisk accidentally let out a hiccup when something reached under her and pulled her off the ground. Her thoughts were muddy. _What's happening? Where's Chara?_

Cradled in what felt to be a pair of arms, Frisk peeled open her heavy eyes to see who carried her. The face, or what she could see of it in her state, looked familiar, but Frisk was too tired to remember who it belonged to. She was too tired to care if it mattered. As she closed her eyes again and her head fell to the side, she heard a voice as familiar as the face say one simple thing, the last thing she had to grasp as the void pulled her under.

"Everything's gonna be okay, kid."


	8. Chapter 8

**_Chapter 8_**

In and out. Light and dark. Conscious and unconscious.

Bits and pieces scattered throughout Frisk's memory, but there were too few to create a comprehensive story. They were dots with too much distance to be connected, the spaces between an empty void.

Someone carried her away from the blood, ashes, and vomit.

She was carried to someplace warm.

Arguing.

". . . any idea what would . . ."

". . . one would know. Trust me."

"Close to death, this one."

Blinding white light.

Liquid forced down her throat.

Excruciating pain in her side.

Frisk never died this way before. She never came back this way, either. It was different. It scared her.

Her body cold.

Head heavy.

Chara's voice saying, "Don't let them take you."

Frisk grasped not for the words, but for the voice. Chara's voice.

 _Chara._

 _Chara._

Frisk's eyes flew open.

 _Chara!_

Had it not been for the pain in her side, Frisk would have bolted upright. She laid in a bed in a small room with white walls, landscape paintings decorating said walls, and a bouquet of flowers on the nightstand by the bed. The lights were off. Looking around, the place seemed nothing more than a hospital room minus the monitors.

"Chara?" she called quietly, too afraid to speak above a whisper. It was as she tucked loose hair behind her ear Frisk noticed something else was amiss.

Looking down, Frisk bit back a gasp when she saw that she had been changed into an oversized, lime green T-shirt and mint shorts almost short enough to be classified as underwear. Her brown hair hung freely, in desperate need of a brush, and her feet were bare. Worst of all, the locket was no longer around her neck.

"Chara!" Frisk whispered, panic settling in. Toriel trusted Frisk to take care of Chara, so much so that Toriel didn't feel the need to use her dying breaths to tell Frisk such. Now the locket was gone, and Chara along with it.

 _"_ _Don't let them take you,"_ she heard Chara say, or maybe she had dreamt it. Either way, he must have known they were being separated. As usual, there was nothing he could do to stop it. If anyone is at fault for their predicament, it was Frisk.

 _Get up. Find Chara. Get out of here,_ Frisk told herself as she fought through the pain and rose to her feet. There were two ways to honor Toriel's memory, and Frisk would do them. She would find Chara, and the both of them would get out of there. They would escape not just wherever they were, but the Underground altogether. No other options would be acceptable.

As carefully as humanly possible, Frisk opened the door and peeked through the small crack. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door all the way and stepped out into the hall. She stood still for a moment, squinting until her eyes adjusted to the light, then began walking down the hall. Frisk didn't know where she was going, but anywhere had to be better than staying where she was. The only problem was if she got caught. If that happened, Frisk didn't know what she would do.

"A human?" A voice around the corner snorted. "Does he have any idea what could happen if word gets out there's a _human_ here?"

Frisk should have shied away and went in the other direction. She should have, yet curiosity overcame her. Pushing herself into the wall, Frisk strained to quiet her breathing and hear the conversation.

"He claims we should have nothing to worry about as long as the two of us don't make a production out of this," a second voice said. Both speakers were female. "Yet regardless of whether or not I believe him, I do owe him a favor."

"A favor that might get us all killed? What did he do for you that's worth risking our lives like this?!"

"Regardless of favors, I couldn't let the human-"

"What are you doing?"

Frisk squeaked as she felt an icy breath at the back of her neck. Turning slowly, she saw a polar bear in a sweater standing behind her. She suppressed the urge to scream.

The bear leaned in closer. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

There was no more suppressing urges. Frisk shrieked, lost her balance, and fell on her behind. In a pathetic attempt to get away, she crab-walked as fast and as far away from the bear as possible. Only she forgot about the corner.

When she rounded, she didn't just expose herself to the other monsters, but she fell down a set of steps, only a few high. Pain stabbed her throbbing side, but she ignored it. "Get away from me!" she shouted at the bear. "Don't touch me!"

"Sweetie, calm down," came a voice from behind. It belonged to the second speaker.

Flinching away from the touch above her elbow, Frisk snapped her head around to see a giant pink rabbit standing over her, arm outstretched. A pale white dog was beside the rabbit. The air rushed out of Frisk's lungs at the sight of another dog.

The rabbit must have seen something in Frisk's eyes because she put up both of her hand-like paws, palms facing outwards, and said slowly, "We're not going to hurt you. See? We're on your side. All we want to do is help."

As none of the monsters made move to attack, Frisk took a few deep, long breaths to calm her raging nerves. She looked at the monsters, just as the rabbit insisted. The rabbit, the dog, and the polar bear were all wearing blue.

 _Blue._

"You're Blues?" Frisk asked, disbelief coloring her words. She had almost forgotten all about them, but now Madjick's words came back. _"Monsters in blue are good for you."_

"You bet we are," the rabbit said, smiling now. "If we wanted you dead so we could take your soul, do you really think I would have treated your wound and let you sleep peacefully in one of my rooms?"

Now that the words were spoken aloud, Frisk blushed at the realization at how silly she was being. The rabbit was right. If anyone wanted harm to come to Frisk, it would have come while she was unconscious. She didn't imagine anyone who wanted her soul would care whether or not she was aware while they took it.

"Th-thank you," she said, not sure what else to say.

The rabbit froze for a second before she waved a paw in the air. "Don't worry about it, sweetie. That's what good folk do; we look out for each other."

"You really should get back to bed," the polar bear said, his voice deep and slow. "You're not properly rested."

"Give her a chance to wrap her head around all of this, Peter," the rabbit scolded the bear. "Poor thing was almost dead when he brought her in."

Suddenly it all came back to Frisk. The face she barely recognized. The voice she knew but could not place as it told her, _"Everything is going to be okay, kid."_

"Sans brought me here?" Frisk asked before she realized her mouth was open.

" _Don't_ say that name," the dog, who had remained silent until now, answered sharply. "We do not speak of that name in these parts."

"I'm sorry," Frisk said. She looked down and chewed on her lower lip. The pieces were starting to come together, but her body hurt too much for her to think straight. Yet there was one thing she did not forget about in all the confusion. "Where's my locket? And my clothes and boots? Where are my things?"

"They're in another room, but we'll bring them to you if you like," the rabbit said. "For now, I think you should eat something. You have been unconscious for a day-and-a-half. Let me take you back to bed and fetch you some soup, and I'll return your belongings while you eat. How's that sound?"

A small smile appeared on Frisk's face. "Soup sounds nice."

This made the rabbit return the smile. "I'm Beatrix, by the way." She indicated the dog. "That's Doge," she pointed to the bear, "and you already met Peter. And you are?"

"I'm Frisk." She took the paw offered her and let Beatrix help her up. "Where's Sa- Uh, I mean, where's the one who brought me here?"

Beatrix shook her head as she led Frisk back to the room. "No idea, sweetie. Dropped you here, made me pay the favor I owed him, and stayed until he knew you were going to live. After you were stable, he said he had business to take care off. Said it would take him three days and he should be back by then, but we can't be too sure with him. He comes and goes as he pleases, but we're used to it."

The words made Frisk frown in disappointment. Until the locket was around her neck again, she would have gladly seen any familiar, friendly face. Now knowing that it was Sans who helped her, she wanted to see him even more. She wanted to thank him, but she didn't know how. When one saves another's life, certainly words alone aren't enough to express gratitude.

Seeing Frisk's uneasy expression, Beatrix patted Frisk on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Frisk. We'll take care of you until he gets back."

The warmth and friendliness made Frisk feel safer than she had since Toriel died. When she smiled, the comfort and happiness she showed was genuine. "Thank you."

* * *

"Sans!"

Said skeleton internally groaned as he replied, "Yes, Papyrus?"

"Have you seen my sunglasses?"

Frowning, Sans turned to look at Papyrus. He had thought his twin was about to criticize the way Sans was making up the couch for Undyne – he turned it into a bed simply by throwing a dirty pillow and blanket with holes in the material on top of it. _Hey,_ he was going to argue, _anywhere one sleeps_ is _a bed._

Relieved at the actual request, Sans told Papyrus, "I don't know. Try checking the mirror."

"Excellent idea, Sans!" Papyrus exclaimed – he exclaimed almost everything he said – and ran off to the bathroom. Twelve seconds later: "I have found them! They were on my head this whole time. Ah, the cleverness of the Great Papyrus!"

Chuckling, Sans found it in himself to at least straightening the blanket before calling it a job well done and walking away. "Why, again, is Undyne coming to stay?" he asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to be aware of how much Papyrus already knew.

"She has a super top-secret mission, duh," Papyrus answered, grinning as he shifted his attention to dusting off the knickknacks, which happened to be toys and action figures he found at the dump some months ago. "She is the Captain of the Royal Guard, after all. Naturally she's going to get all the good missions."

"Yeah, but do you know what exactly her mission might be?"

"Not really."

Sans frowned. "Haven't you heard the rumors?"

Gasping, Papyrus held the duster as he cupped his face. "Are they about me?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, they are." Watching as his brother danced with joy, it was hard for Sans to feel bad for lying to Papyrus. If Papyrus even heard a whisper that there was an actual human in the Underground, he would go through great measures, and maybe get himself killed in the process, to try to capture it.

 _So maybe not_ every _monster in the Underground has heard the rumors._

The thought led Sans to cancel out everything around him as he plotted his next course of action. He told Beatrix that he would be back in three days, and already half that time was spent. He didn't know what he was thinking by taking the bleeding Frisk to her in the first place. The human was surrounded by the ashes of dead monsters, and Sans could not ignore such. Had he not checked her EXP and concluded Frisk was not in the habit of staining her hands with dust – her low EXP count told him that was her first time killing, and her terrible wound was proof enough she attacked in self-defense – he would have left her to die in the snow, promise or no.

Now he had to find some way to take care of this human, practically a child, while not revealing to anyone what he was doing. If anyone knew he was helping a human when her soul was the last they needed so that they may escape from under the mountain, he would immediately be labeled a traitor to the crown. Worse, if Undyne found out, she probably would give him a quick trial where she would be lawyer, judge, and jury. He shivered at the thought of the sentence she would have in mind for him.

"How long is this super top secret of Undyne's supposed to last, anyway?" Sans asked, pretending to reorganize the books on the coffee table.

"Who knows," Papyrus answered, "but I'm sure it will be long enough for me to convince Undyne to plead on my behalf to have King Asgore put me back on the Royal Guard! Nyehehe!"

"I see. And when is Undyne going to get here?"

Papyrus looked at the clock. "Oh, about now."

Immediately after Papyrus spoke, a loud knock came from the door followed by a voice shouting, "Please let me in! It's freezing out here!"

"Wow," Sans said as Papyrus jogged to the door, "she must be really chilled to the bone."

Groaning, Papyrus turned to Sans and began, "If you make any bad puns like that while Undyne is here-"

"Open the door already!"

"More on that later." Papyrus opened the door and said, "Welcome, Undyne!"

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too. Took you long enough. What were you doing, trying to turn me into frozen fish sticks?" The blue-skinned monster rushed inside, slammed the door behind her, set down her suitcase, and pulled her jacket closer over her body. "Now that I'm here, I almost wished I wasn't assigned to Ice Capital. How can you guys live in all this snow?" she asked, shivering.

"Easy," Sans shrugged, "we don't have skin."

"So, uh, Undyne," Papyrus said as he wrung his fingers, "is there any way I can-"

"No." There was finality in Undyne's answer.

"But you don't know what I was going to ask!"

Undyne sighed. "You were going to ask if there was any way you can help me with my mission, weren't you, Papyrus?"

"Well, I, um, no! No, I wasn't going to ask that at all! I was going to ask is there, er, any way I can persuade you to try my new meatball recipe for spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight?" Papyrus smiled, his grin obviously forced.

Shaking her head, Undyne replied, "Get started on dinner, and I'll be in the kitchen after I warm up to help you. Sounds good?"

After Papyrus agreed and ran to the kitchen to get started, Undyne turned to Sans and whispered, "Hasn't he heard the rumors at all?"

"Apparently he's the only monster in the Underground that hasn't," Sans whispered back.

"Well, I'm going to need you to keep an eye on him while I'm here," Undyne said. "We don't know how dangerous a human is, and the last thing either of us wants is Papyrus getting hurt. The less he knows, the better off he'll be."

"And where, exactly, do you plan on looking for this human?" Sans asked.

A wicked grin spread across Undyne's face. "I might not know where to start," she answered, "but I'll tear apart the whole forest until I find that miserable human."

* * *

After eating two bowls of soup and getting a full night of deep sleep, Frisk found a restlessness growing inside her. She knew she needed to wait for Sans, but she didn't see a point in lying in bed the whole time. Rising from and making the bed, Frisk grabbed her clothes, which Beatrix left on a chair in the corner of the room, walked to the washroom, and bathed in the tin tub.

Towel wrapped around her, Frisk observed herself in the mirror. This wasn't right. So much had changed in the past few days. She should have changed with everything else. Although her skin was paler from the loss of blood and her cheeks thinner from lack of proper nutrition since leaving the Ruins, she had to look really hard to see those differences. Based on a first glance alone, nothing about her appearance had changed at all. Except one thing.

Steeling herself, Frisk made sure the door was locked before she dropped the towel. The twisted wound on her side was held together by thick, black stitches. Frisk threw up in her mouth at the sight of them. It still hurt, but as long as she was careful, the wound would have no problem healing. There will be a scar, Beatrix said, but that would be the worst of it.

As she dressed, Frisk's mind would not stop coming back to the dogs she killed. Again and again the scene played inside her head, each recent edition more gruesome than the last. She had killed someone. Frisk had killed someone, and another was filled with so much grief that he killed himself immediately after. Frisk swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't lift the blade, but she was still responsible for his death. Frisk killed both of them.

Unable to contain herself, Frisk vomited up the breakfast Beatrix had brought to her earlier. She retched until there was nothing left, until her stomach was tied into a knot. Everything hurt, but time was too short to live in the past.

Clothed and back in her room, Frisk took a deep breath and put on the locket. When Chara appeared, he stood frozen. He looked around the room and at Frisk, his brows pinched together. He truly had no idea what had happened between the locket being removed from Frisk to now.

"Sans brought me here, didn't he?" Frisk asked even though she already knew the answer.

Chara answered by saying, "Just because he did this for you doesn't mean I trust him now." When Frisk didn't respond, instead focusing her attention on using her fingers to brush out her hair, Chara asked, "How much time has passed?"

"Two days, or so I've been told," Frisk answered as she tied her hair back with her ribbon. It was good to have her hair out of her face again. "I spent all of the first day and most of yesterday unconscious, but today I feel more like myself."

Studying her, Chara walked around the room and took in some of the smaller details. "So, what are the big plans for today?"

"I want to see the town," Frisk answered. She didn't look at Chara; she kept her gaze focused on her boots as she slid them on. "I want to be around others."

"What, my company isn't enough?"

 _I almost dreaded putting the locket back on because I was afraid to see you._ Frisk forced a smile on her face. "I thought you just might want to see the town, too." Chara snorted. _Yet I can't do any of this without you._

When Frisk walked down the stairs, Beatrix, who was washing the dishes, smiled and asked how Frisk was feeling now that she was up and about. "I'm feeling great, thank you," Frisk said. She pressed her lips together before she asked, "I was wondering if it would be okay if I could go around and see the town."

Beatrix laughed. "No need to ask, Frisk. You're not a prisoner here, but if you want company, I can see if my daughter can show you around."

"That would be great," Frisk said although she didn't know Beatrix had a daughter, but the information had no reason to come up until now. "Is she here?"

"No, but she should be back in fifteen or twenty minutes." Beatrix began to dry the pots, pans, and plates. She smiled at Frisk when the human picked up another towel and started to help. "Alice went out to deliver baked goods to our friends. She loves all things baking and chocolate. When she was little, she dreamed of moving to the Capital and opening the biggest and best bakery in the whole Underground, but now she's happy to just spend her mornings baking and giving away her delicious pastries. Some of the other townspeople give her generous tips, so I can't say her hobby leaves us wanting."

It was a smile Frisk used to fight back the rising tears. The talk of baking reminded her of all the times she and Toriel baked. It was their favorite mother-daughter bonding activity, and never again would they get to make pies with each other. "Alice sounds nice," Frisk said to get her mind off Toriel.

"She is." Beatrix nodded. "You two should become fast friends."

"I hope so," Frisk muttered. With everything going on, she really needed a friend.

"You discuss such boring topics," Chara said as he continued to survey the kitchen and lobby. His eyes stopped on a painting, but Frisk wasn't in good position to properly see what the painting was. "If I were you, I'd ask where you are and what happened to Snowdin. You know, that town burnt to ash?"

Chara was right. Frisk frowned. She hated it when Chara was right.

"I have something to ask, if you're up for it," she said slowly, using her tone to convey to Beatrix that it was not going to be an easy question.

The monster looked at Frisk, concern etched into her eyes. "What is it, sweetie?"

Seeing no point in beating around the bush, Frisk bluntly asked, "What happened to Snowdin? Before I was . . . injured, I found the town, but it was nothing but remains. It looks like there was a fire, but I'm not really sure how it happened or how long ago."

Looking into an unseen distance, Beatrix took a deep breath and briefly explained, "Yes, there was a fire, about three years ago. The Reds . . . ignited it. When I look back, we should have seen it coming. The Reds, our local ones, began leaving one by one. Some moved away, and others claimed to be visiting relatives, and others still said they were merely traveling. We were warned, fortunately, but it was at the last possible minute. We packed what we could on such short notice and ran far away. We thought, I don't know, that if the Reds saw that we were gone, they wouldn't destroy our homes, but they did anyway. Now . . . we live here. It's not the same, but we've adjusted."

Nodding, Frisk knew Beatrix's explanation left no room for more questions on the topic. She knew enough, and what really mattered was there were no casualties. With nothing to say, Frisk continued to help dry dishes in silence. Beatrix, in return, said nothing else.

"I'm back!" came a cheerful voice from the front door minutes later.

Beatrix's ears perked up. "Alice, I'm in here!"

A white rabbit about Frisk's height walked into the kitchen. The monster wore a pink sweater and a coffee-colored skirt, and a cream scarf was wrapped around her neck. "Oh," she said when she laid eyes on Frisk, "that must be your patient." To Frisk, "I'm so glad you're feeling better. When you-know-who brought you in, you were so white I was afraid you would break into ashes at any second."

"Alice!" Beatrix scolded, but her daughter went on as if nothing was said.

"You look much better now that you're brown," Alice continued. "Most monsters here have white fur. Probably from years of our ancestors living here, I suppose, that we adapted to have white fur to blend into the snow, but your brown skin is so pretty."

"Uh, thanks," Frisk said, blushing.

Alice laughed. "Don't hear that every day."

Frisk furrowed her brows. "Huh?"

"She means the expression of gratitude, Frisk," Beatrix supplied as she put away the last of the dishes. "It's not that monsters down her are rude, per se, but nobody really says 'thank you' or 'I appreciate it.' Gratitude is typically implied, not expressed. Not that it isn't nice to hear."

"It's not normal to say 'thank you'?" Frisk questioned.

"She just said that. Weren't you listening?" Chara rolled his eyes.

"We had a dark point in our history," Beatrix explained. "It was a take what you can and give nothing world. After the death of our princes and the exile of our queen, the Underground fell into chaos. It was a miracle we didn't descend into extinction, let alone how some of us still managed to find the good in ourselves and others." Beatrix giggled. "Not that I was there, but my grandparents talked about it so vividly it's almost as if I was the way I can recall their stories so well."

"I'm taking you didn't know that," Alice pointed out, though she didn't look at Frisk with distrust. "Where are you from?"

Frisk saw no harm in telling the truth, and Chara wasn't giving her any signs to keep her mouth shut. She replied, "The Ruins."

Beatrix and Alice looked wide-eyed at Frisk. "We didn't know if anyone still lived in what remains of Home," Beatrix said. "You grew up there?" Frisk nodded. "Are there others?"

"The Ruins are small," Frisk replied, "but it's well populated. The kind of size where you've met everyone living there but you still don't know everyone well enough to name them all on the top of your head."

"Hmm." Alice nodded. "Sounds bigger than our little made up town here. I'm practically friends with _everyone_."

"That reminds me," Beatrix said, "Alice, would you please show Frisk around? Poor thing has been stuck indoors since she arrived. Fresh air would do her good."

"Sure thing, mother dearest." Alice giggled. Looking at Frisk, Alice said, "But be warned, you're going to get some weird looks. I don't think anyone here has ever seen a monster like you before."


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9_**

He needed to get away. Sans needed to find an excuse to disappear and check on the human. He said he would be back in three days, but even as he said the words he felt that was too long a wait. Now Undyne had arrived, and she would not let him far from her sights for more than was necessary.

"So," Undyne said, going over the notes she had taken during the interview she held with Sans first thing that morning, "you really didn't see anything the day that trap went off? Nothing before or immediately after?"

"Just because you keep asking the same question over and over doesn't mean you'll get a different answer." Sans, as if he couldn't be bothered, returned his attention to his drink. He knew it irritated Undyne how he appeared to not care, so he made a point by drawing out his movements to make them appear as lazy as possible. "I have seen no humans in the Underground since before the trap was set off or in the days that followed." That wasn't a lie. Sans didn't see humans, but he did see a _human_. Singular, not plural.

"This doesn't make any sense." Undyne again looked at the map of Snowdin Road. "You're stationed right at the end of the forest, right by the very door that seals off Home. All our records indicate that every human in the past has come to the Underground through the ruins of Home, and by that logic, so has this supposed human. This means it should have passed by your station." At the words, Undyne glared at Sans. "You weren't taking another unnecessary break, were you?"

Sans shrugged. "It's possible a human could have come by during one of my breaks. I can't watch my post every minute of every day. Whether or not it was during an authorized break, we'll never know."

Gritting her teeth, Undyne slammed her notebook shut. "You know, Sans, I was really hoping I can count on you, yet you never cease to amaze me. This could be the last soul we need to escape, but you can't even be bothered to watch your post long enough to give me satisfactory answers!"

"You think I don't want to go to the surface?" Sans questioned, his tone rising. "All I want more than anything is to go back home, and the surface is the next best thing. Do you really think I would sabotage any chance I had at leaving the Underground?" _By making your promise with that woman, isn't that exactly what you did?_

"Honestly, Sans, I have no freaking clue." Undyne organized her things into a neat pile. "Grab your coat, because you and me are going on an expedition."

Not liking where this was going, Sans asked, "What do you mean?"

Undyne rolled her eye as if she couldn't believe Sans was this oblivious. "We're going to explore Snowdin Road, pay a visit to Doggo, and all that good stuff. If there's any proof that a human was in the area within the last few days, I plan to find it."

"Oh, you're going out for your super top-secret mission?" Papyrus came out of the kitchen with a plate of steaming hot chocolate pancakes in his hands. "Can I come, too?"

"Papyrus, I don't think . . . ," Undyne began, but one look at Papyrus's pleading face broke her. "You can come," she said, "but you must obey orders without question or hesitation. Do I make myself clear?"

With an ecstatic promise that he wouldn't let her down, Papyrus left the plate of pancakes as he ran off to his room to get his "super top-secret mission" backpack. Undyne and Sans sat in silence for a moment before Undyne groaned and put her face in her hands. After a deep breath, she sat upright again and used her fork to stab half the pancakes and put them onto her plate.

"He just wants to help," Sans said, choosing to stick with his coffee.

"I know, and I appreciate him. It's just . . ." Undyne stabbed at her pancakes some more. "If there's a human here, I don't want Papyrus to get hurt. You know how dangerous humans can be."

"Those are just stories," Sans replied, not knowing why he said what he did. "I'm sure any human we have out there would be scared of her own shadow."

It wasn't until Undyne glared at Sans that he realized his mistake. "'Her'?" Undyne questioned.

"Or his." Sans shrugged. "I'm all about gender equality."

Undyne did not take her eye off him as she continued to stab and eat the rest of her breakfast. Sans liked to pretend that her sharp gaze didn't cut into his bones. The problem was he could only pretend so much.

* * *

"A . . . a monster?"

"Yes, Frisk," Beatrix said. She reached out and grabbed Frisk just above the elbow. Frisk tried not to wince when Beatrix squeezed Frisk's arm a little too tightly. "No one here has seen a monster like you before. I don't think anyone would know what to make of you."

When all Frisk did was stare at Beatrix in confusion, Chara told her, "She wants you to pretend you're a monster, Stripes. Don't tell me you're really too stupid to figure that one out."

"Oh, well," Frisk thought quickly, "I suppose you're right in saying I might turn a few heads. The monsters in the Ruins thought I was pretty weird, too."

"Not that weird is a bad thing!" Alice sang. She ran up and took Frisk by the hand. "Come on. We'll get started on the tour now. I can't wait to show you the town." To Beatrix, "We'll be back in an hour, Mom!"

"You two have fun." Beatrix waved at the two of them, and Frisk couldn't help but wave back.

Stopping right in front of the door, Alice looked Frisk in the eyes and asked, "So, you saw nothing of the town when you were brought here?"

"None of it," Frisk answered.

"Well, I hope you like surprises." Alice got behind Frisk and covered her eyes. "I need you to keep your eyes closed until we get to where I want you to be. To do that, you have to trust I won't lead you into a pole or anything." Alice giggled. "Do you trust me?"

"No," Chara said.

"Yes," Frisk replied to Alice.

"Good," Alice said, "because I need you to open the door and lead the way. I'll be right behind you and tell you where to go."

Frisk did everything the white rabbit told her to do. When they walked outside, Frisk felt the cold air nip at her face. It seemed that Sans took her deeper into the snow-filled forest, but since she was surrounded by others, all who she met thus far seeming friendly, Frisk didn't mind.

"On the count of three, okay?"

"Okay, Alice."

Frisk could hear the smile in Alice's voice as she counted. "One, two, three!"

When Alice's paws flew away, Frisk gasped in awe of the town before her. Each building was a small log cabin, some having smoke fly out of their chimneys. Snow hugged the ground and cabins like a soft, white blanket. It was a small and cozy town, but what took Frisk's breath away was the large fir tree in the middle of the surrounding buildings. Streamers and ribbons wrapped around the conifer, red and green orbs hung from the branches, and boxes wrapped in silver or rainbow paper sat underneath it. On the top of the tree was a golden star that Frisk had to tilt her head all the way back to see.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Yeah, it's quite the sight." Alice laid a hand on the small of Frisk's back and gently pushed her forward. "Don't just stand there. Get closer. Smell the tree. Trust me, you'll love the smell just as much as you love the sight."

Alice wasn't wrong. The closer Frisk got, the stronger the smell of pine grew. Closing her eyes, Frisk inhaled deeply. The decorated tree immediately became her favorite thing in the world.

"Do you get to see this every day?"

"Every day." Alice nodded. "We had another tree in Snowdin, but when we fled, we couldn't take it with us. The decorations did though, and when we found this tree in the middle of everything, we made it pretty and declared it the center of our new town."

"What is this town called?"

"Snowdin Two."

Frisk laughed. "You're joking."

"I'm serious!" Alice insisted. "Everyone liked the name Snowdin, and most of the forest _is_ called Snowdin Forest. It made sense to keep the name. Besides," Alice snorted, "the only city in this area is called Ice Capital. Not as creative a name, if you ask me."

"Yo, Alice!"

Grinning, Alice looked past Frisk and shouted, "Hey, Mon! Come over here! There's someone I want you to meet." To Frisk, "You don't mind if we have a friend come along, do you?"

"Not at all." Frisk turned around and saw an armless monster approaching. The yellow monster made Frisk think of a dinosaur, but the grin the monster wore reminded Frisk of Chara. Frisk took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"What an annoying looking freak," Chara said, almost nonchalant. "I don't think you're going to get along with this one."

"Mon," Alice said as she pulled Frisk closer to the new monster, "this is Frisk. She's the girl my mom has been looking over the past couple of days. Frisk, this is Mon. She's my best friend."

"Nice to meet ya!" Mon said. She spent half a second looking Frisk over. "You're a kid, too. I can tell because you're wearing stripes."

"That's not how that works, Mon." Alice smiled as she shook her head. Turning to Frisk, she asked, "How old are you, anyway? I just realized I don't know."

"I'm sixteen," Frisk answered. She shrugged. "I suppose to some that's kid enough." _A kid who murdered somebody._ Shivering at the voice inside her head, Frisk wrapped her arms around herself and pretended she was cold.

"You don't have me fooled," Chara told Frisk, as if he read her mind. "You might want to keep that teeny tiny detail to yourself if you want them to like you."

"So, you're our age. Cool." Mon nodded her approval.

"Is Mon short for anything?" Frisk asked, grasping for any conversation topic.

"Monika, but don't call me that if you want to keep your limbs," Mon answered, eyes narrowed. "I'd rather we pretend 'Mon' is short for 'Monster.'"

"Um, okay." Frisk frowned.

Sensing the awkwardness, Alice said, "So, how about we show Frisk around? Frisk, what do you want to see? We can go to my aunt's shop, uh, what else is there to do? Check out the library, perhaps."

Frisk's eyes lit up. "You have a library?"

"Yep, but not a big one." Alice began leading the way. "We can stop there first before I show you the rest of the town."

"Which won't take long since this place is so small," Mon said as she followed close behind. "Afterwards we can go to the river."

Keeping herself from halting, Frisk questioned, "Why?"

"Maybe to check out the river?" Mon replied, rolling her eyes. "There's next to nothing to do here, but the river's a good place to go if you want to get away from everyone."

"And pretend you're training for the royal guard by the captain herself." Alice giggled as Mon yelled at her to keep her mouth shut.

Knowing that someone from the royal guard had the potential to eventually cross paths with her, Frisk asked, "Who's the captain of the royal guard?"

Mon gasped in disbelief. "Have you been living under a rock?"

"She's from the Ruins, a place that had been sealed off for ages," Alice supplied before Frisk could answer. "Not much news gets there, I imagine."

"Not much at all," Frisk confirmed.

"Then you've been missing out, dude!" Mon began chattering, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she walked alongside the two. "Undyne is the coolest monster who ever lived! She's super strong, really cool, and beats up bad guys! If anyone is going to get the last human soul, it'll be her. If I was a human, I'd never be able to sleep at night knowing that Undyne is going to come beat me up."

"She sounds . . . delightful." Frisk forced a smile on her face.

"If this Undyne finds you," Chara said, "you're dead. Forget about coming back. She might just make you regret coming back after each death."

 _Must you be so discouraging?_ Frisk curled and uncurled her fingers. She shouldn't let Chara get to her. He was winding her up for no reason other than to amuse himself.

"Mon has the biggest girl crush on her," Alice giggled, prompting Mon to yell at the rabbit some more. "Don't be that way! Girl crushes are a perfectly normal thing to have. It's good for young girls to have someone older to look up to."

"Just don't call it a crush. Don't make me sound like that." Mon blushed despite her flaring nostrils. "You're going to give the newbie the wrong impression of me."

This was the point they arrived at the library. Or, as the sign read, "librarby." Frisk, not wanting to be rude, kept her mouth shut, but Alice must have known what Frisk was thinking.

"Don't feel you shouldn't say anything to be polite," Alice said, shrugging. None of the teens made move to enter the building. "Everyone notices."

"No one ever wanted to correct it?"

"You think after we came here someone would, but by that point, we have all just grown too accustomed to the misspelling. After having to leave our old homes, I think some of us wanted to hold onto what we had lost."

"Adults are so dumb," Mon said, though her tone didn't sound as harsh as her choice of words. "We could have hidden anywhere in the Underground, maybe even move to Hotlands, but they chose to move us deeper into the forest."

Frisk swallowed the lump in her throat. "You're in hiding?"

"When the king orders your entire town to be burned out of the Underground, you kinda get the impression you're not wanted."

"Not that we ever confirmed it was King Asgore who ordered the destruction," Alice cut in, casting Mon a glare. "The Reds and Blues of Snowdin normally got along, but we never saw eye-to-eye on how we wanted our future to look. Tell me, Frisk, was it ever that way in the Ruins?"

"There were no Reds and Blues in the Ruins," Frisk said. Wanting to change the subject, Frisk suggested, "How about we check out the _librarby_ out?"

* * *

Undyne swore colorfully as she surveyed the ashes on the ground, grateful she sent Papyrus to the grocery store for "secret mission snacks." She didn't want him to see this. She didn't even want to see it.

"Those two sweet dogs," Undyne said, her voice soft and unsteady, "who always took care of each other . . . dead, because of the whims of a single human?" She removed her helmet and knelt by the piled remains. "The Snowdin Canine Unit has been decimated," she continued. "My troops and friends, destroyed. . . ."

Knowing better than to say anything, Sans merely watched as Undyne bowed her head and paid her respects. First chance she got, Undyne would contact someone to collect the ashes and send them to the dogs' families for a funeral. Once that task was taken care of, Undyne would make it her personal mission to destroy the one who had done this.

A swirl of emotions whirled inside Sans. The human had killed in self-defense. The blood pouring from her side and staining the snow was proof enough that she was attacked, and her emotional distress clearly came from her actions and not her gaping wound. When Sans brought her to Beatrix, he thought he was doing the right thing.

Yet as he saw Undyne mourn her fallen warriors, Sans had second thoughts. Self-defense or not, Frisk had killed somebody. She didn't have to, but she did. Instead of taking her to Beatrix to cash in that favor, Sans should have taken the human to King Asgore himself. He may have promised to protect any human he met, but the promise was not worth _this_.

"There was a battle here," Undyne said minutes later, her gruff voice weak. She wiped at the snow. "Blood, and vomit. Whoever was here, whoever did this, didn't walk away unscratched. Probably couldn't stomach the conflict either." Undyne stood. "Alphys's history books made me think humans were cool and compassionate, but this . . . ?" Undyne shook her head. "Now I don't know what to think."

Sans had to ask. "What makes you think a human did this?"

"What makes you think a monster would have?!" Undyne snapped. She took a deep breath. "All I know is before I wasn't sure if I really could kill someone innocent, even if it meant getting to the surface. Now? I suppose killing them won't be an issue. We shouldn't let someone this dangerous wander around in the Underground. Not when we want monsters to feel safe."

"But isn't safety an illusion?" Sans pretended to examine the nails he didn't have. "Not every monster here is all that friendly, y'know."

"I do what I can to protect the people I serve," Undyne answered, possibly saying the best she had to offer. "No human falls under that category. I owe nothing to them."

Sans didn't argue. There was no reason to argue. Undyne was right, but that didn't stop his own personal conflicts.

Undyne muttered under her breath. Not hearing her, Sans asked the captain to repeat herself.

"This isn't right. There's a pool of dried blood right there in front of us. You see it too, right?" Sans nodded. "Why is there no trail?" Undyne asked.

"You don't think humans disappear after death, do you?" Sans said and hated himself for it.

"In Alphys's books, human bodies remained after death." Undyne walked around and kicked at the snow as if she missed some critical clue. "The human moved, but it didn't drag itself away. Something covered the human's wound and carried it someplace else."

 _Yeah, I did._ Sans kept his face a mask, hiding his sins from the very woman sniffing them out.

"Who do you think would help a human?"

 _This traitor. The one you're hunting the human with._ "No idea," Sans answered.

Undyne growled. "This is going to be a long mission."

"You don't even know the half of it," Sans said before he knew he was speaking.

* * *

The sun was shining. The flowers were blooming. The birds were singing. Overall, it was a beautiful day.

To calm his mind, King Asgore tended to his flowers. Their bright golden petals didn't cheer him up, but instead did the opposite. His beautiful flowers depressed him. They reminded him of what used to be and will never be again.

One hundred years isn't enough time to learn to move on from the pain.

Some days the king was fine and went on as if that horrible day, the one his entire kingdom was ordered to not speak of, never happened. King Asgore would take care of his garden, rule his people, and engage with those who crossed his path in endearing conversation. The days were few, but he was his old self again.

Other days he would wake, the pain fresh and anew. His anger was a raging fire, and sometimes he wondered why he didn't burn his golden flowers to ash. Heart heavy, King Asgore used fear to keep his subjects at a distance.

"Sire?" It was the cat knight again.

"Yes, Trista?" King Asgore said, rising from the golden bed. When Trista failed to answer, Asgore turned to see the tabby wringing her paws. "Well?"

"We just received word from Captain Undyne. Dogamy and Dogaressa have been killed on duty. Evidence suggests that a human committed the crime."

King Asgore's heart sank. "Are we certain it was a human?"

Trista nodded. "No monster can bleed as much as what was found and not die. There's no other explanation."

Nodding, King Asgore said, "If anyone can stop the human, it's Undyne. Let's just hope she can stop it before it kills any more monsters. We all know how manipulative and bloodthirsty those creatures are."

Memories rushed to the surface, and the king suppressed a growl. Humans, he learned, were like snakes. They would come around and act as if they meant no harm, as if they were more scared of monsters than monsters were of them. Then, when they had earned the trust of the monsters, they would reveal their fangs and release their deadly poison. The king didn't learn this until it was too late, and even then half the kingdom refused to see the demon snake as anything but harmless.

"Send the first division to Waterfall," King Asgore commanded Trista. "Although I do not doubt Undyne's skills, we must limit the human's travels as much as possible."

After Trista promised to do such immediately and bowed out, the king returned to his flowers. There was one flower that was more beautiful than all the rest. Its leaves were the darkest green, and its petals the brightest gold. It was perfect.

Kneeling, King Asgore plucked the flower from the ground. He held it in the light, admiring its beauty. "It's the things that are too good to be true that must be destroyed before they can destroy us," he muttered before igniting a fire between his fingers, burning the once beautiful flower to nothing more than hot ash.

* * *

Filled with awe, Frisk ran her fingers through the book spines as she walked through the small library. _So much history. So many stories._ Toriel's modest collection paled in comparison to the shelves before Frisk.

Alice giggled. "You really like books, huh?"

Shrugging, Frisk stepped away from the bookshelves. "I love stories," she said, "but books are an easy way to get them."

"Oh, great." Mon rolled her eyes. "We got a nerd here."

Frisk glared at Mon but said nothing, even as Chara said, "Considering you like books and puzzles, I think she's got a great impression of you."

Eyes scanning the spines, Frisk read the titles. _Monster Funerals_. _The Properties of Magic_. _The Essence of Souls, Vol. I_. Her eyes landed on a series of tomes. _Monster History_. The years each volume covered were etched into the spines of the book. On the last tome in the collection, the year the book covered to was twenty years ago. She pretended not to notice Chara staring at her as she looked at the books.

"Aw, don't tell me you love history, too." Mon groaned. "Double nerd."

"The most I ever got in my history studies was the first twenty-five years monsters lived Underground," Frisk replied. "Excuse me for being curious."

"You won't find what you're looking for in those pages," Chara said, as if he knew what it was Frisk desperately wanted to research. She tried not to shudder when she wondered if he really did know.

"Why don't we come back later?" Alice suggested when Mon wouldn't stop complaining. "We can take a walk around the woods. See the river or something."

"That's a great idea!" Mon exclaimed. "I can show Frisk my favorite fishing spot."

Frisk swallowed her heart. "The river again?"

"Not that you will get a lot of fishing done at the river." Alice rolled her eyes. "Mon's so loud she scares away all the fish."

Mon flicked the tip of her tail. "It's not my fault the fish can't handle how awesome I am." Alice rolled her eyes again.

"Um, sure," Frisk said, trying her best to sound calm. "We can check it out."

While Mon cheered and Alice scolded her for using her outdoor voice in a library, Chara asked, "You don't sound sure. Afraid of running into another dog?" Frisk chose not to answer.

The entire walk to the river, which was hardly more than fifteen minutes away, Frisk kept wringing her fingers. Alice noticed and asked if Frisk was all right, and Frisk answered that she was fine. Raising an eyebrow, Alice said nothing but gave Frisk a look telling the human she knew better. Frisk was grateful Alice chose to leave it at that and not pressure Frisk for what was really going through her head.

"This is it!" Mon exclaimed when they came to the river. She ran ahead, but Frisk kept her distance. "Sweet spot, huh? Yo, why are you standing so far away?"

"I'm not." Frisk held her arms behind her back.

"You're, like, five feet away from the water."

"Leave her alone, Mon," Alice said, ears down, and approached Mon.

Something in the distance caught Frisk's attention. It looked like towers made of glass, but Frisk couldn't tell from where she stood. "What do you think that is?" she asked Chara when she was certain Mon and Alice were too focused on their debate to hear her.

"I don't know," Chara answered. "You're going to need to get a closer look."

"Are you serious?"

"Hey, if you want to know what that is, you're going to have to get closer. I don't know, and honestly I don't care, what those towers in the distance are supposed to be."

Swallowing her fear, Frisk approached the river. Everything began to spin. The current didn't look too strong, but since she was still recovering from massive blood loss, Frisk knew she wouldn't have the strength to swim out if she fell in. Not that she knew how to swim in the first place.

"Over there looks to be sturdy." Chara pointed away from Alice and Mon. "You could get closer over there if you want."

Instead of observing the location herself, Frisk followed where Chara pointed and got closer to the river. She alternated between quickly looking where she was going and staring at the glistening towers. It was while she was doing the latter that the snow gave out from under her.

Frisk shouted in surprise as her feet fell from under her and she landed on her tailbone. In a matter of seconds, she slid on black ice into the water and was carried away by the currents. She should have been able to keep her head above water, but she was thrashing too much to do herself any good.

"FRISK!" Alice and Mon ran after her, but they weren't faster than the quickening current. She must have not given it a second thought, because Alice jumped into the icy river to swim after Frisk when she realized running wouldn't be fast enough. Alice moved faster in the water, but she was still too far behind.

The only things Frisk could hear were the blood rushing behind her ears, the torrent screaming at her, and Chara's laughter every time her head broke the surface. Frisk clawed frantically at the water, desperate for something to hold onto until Alice could reach her. She didn't see the large boulder she was hurling towards.

When her head cracked against the rock, Frisk lost all consciousness. Lifeless, she sunk under the water as the current continued to carry her away. She didn't know if slamming head first into the rock or drowning in freezing water was what killed her.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Chapter 10_**

Frisk gasped for air as she bolted upright. She was back in the room in Beatrix's inn, the curtains blocking out any incoming sunlight. The day had reset, but her lungs still burned and her heart still pounded.

Drowned. She had drowned. Or she hit her head too hard. Frisk wasn't really sure. All she knew was she should not have stepped foot anywhere near the river, but she did, and this happened.

Her breathing still heavy, Frisk looked at her pile of clothes sitting on a chair in the corner. The locket sat on top. Without thinking, Frisk took one of the pillows and flung it across the room. The locket clanked on the floor, the rest of her clothes spilling over.

Shaking, Frisk stared at the necklace as if Chara mocked her from over there. Sobs began passing through her lips every time she exhaled with an open mouth. Frisk's chest felt as if it were hollow, and her eyesight blurred due to the hot tears. She fought it no longer.

Frisk threw her face into her remaining pillow and wailed. She finally allowed herself to grieve for her mother. Crying, Frisk held nothing back as she mourned the life she had with Toriel, taken from her never to be given back. Her sorrow racked her entire body. Frisk was alone. Truly, utterly alone. Chara hated her. The one person she had to count on had killed her twice, the first time thinking she would stay dead.

Burying herself under the blankets, Frisk used the pillow to muffle her screams. The emotional pain was so strong she felt it in her chest. Her heart, which she tried so hard to hold together, was finally breaking.

* * *

When Sans awoke that morning, he was hit with a sense of déjà vu. Something felt . . . off. It was when he went downstairs to find Undyne wanting to interrogate him and Papyrus making chocolate chip pancakes that Sans knew.

The day had reset.

It happened before. Rarely, but it was an occasional disrupt in the timeline that was still under study. Only these disruptions happened too far apart from each other to be properly monitored. Except this reset came mere days after the last.

Since neither Undyne nor Papyrus were aware of the reset – only few knew, and Sans was one of the fewer still who remembered the days that no longer happened – Sans stuck to the script from the first time this morning happened. Only near the end did he make some adjustments.

"Honestly, Sans, I have no freaking clue." Undyne organized her things into a neat pile. "Grab your coat, because you and me are going on an expedition."

"Good idea," he said. "We can split the work. You can ask Doggo if he's seen anything, and I'll check if anything is amiss in the remains of Snowdin. Maybe talk to Dogamy and Dogaressa, see what they know." Sans tried not to let it show that he knew the dogs were dead. He would call someone to collect the ashes before Undyne saw them, but she would still find out sooner or later.

Sans preferred it to be later. The longer it took for Undyne to seek vengeance on Frisk for the deaths, the more time Sans had to figure out what, exactly, to do with the human. To decide if she was still worth protecting.

Undyne scratched her chin, considering Sans's words. "It would be more efficient to split the work," she mumbled. Eyeing him, Undyne asked, "You wouldn't be suggesting that just to get out of work, would you?"

"I'm insulted." Sans placed a hand over where his heart would be. "Do you really think I would try to get out of an important mission like that?"

"Mission?!" Papyrus practically ran out of the kitchen, the plate of steaming hot chocolate pancakes in his hands. "You're going out for your super top-secret mission? Can I come, too?!"

"Yeah," Sans said before Undyne could reply, "Undyne could really use your help getting past all your puzzles on her way to visit Doggo. Wouldn't you, Undyne?"

Undyne glared at Sans as he showed her a smug smile. If she knew what he was doing, she didn't show it. "I sure could," she grumbled. As Papyrus ran off to get his "super top-secret mission" backpack, Undyne looked at Sans as she growled, "We'll talk tonight."

Lazily taking a sip of his drink, Sans replied, "Whatever you say, Captain."

* * *

Frisk didn't know how long she was under the covers, crying herself out. Whenever she thought the tears had dried up, she would think of something that would send a new, fresh wave down her face. She may have slept once or twice, but even in sleep she couldn't escape her sorrow. It was moments like this she wished she was dead, but she could never truly die. It was the cruelest kind of fate.

There was a knock at the door and a request to come in. Frisk ignored it. The knock and request came again. Frisk curled tighter into her ball. Now that she was finally alone, she wanted to keep it that way.

Only the person at the door had no intentions to follow along with Frisk's desire.

"I brought some soup and bread, in case you were hungry," Alice's sweet voice said. There was the sound of the door closing behind her. "You haven't been out of bed all day. Mom and I are worried about you."

"I don't feel like getting up," Frisk mumbled from under the sheets.

"Even with your injury, you should still want to get out of bed and stretch your limbs." When Frisk didn't respond, Alice sighed, set the tray on the nightstand, and sat at the foot of the bed. "Are you okay?"

Frisk laughed without humor. "No."

"Well, at least you're honest." Alice reached out, hesitated, then placed a paw on where she assumed Frisk's shoulder was. Since Frisk didn't try to shrug away the contact, Alice rubbed small circles on the shaking form. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." The new wave of tears hit Frisk hard. "I should have saved her. I could have gone back and saved her, but I was too scared to die. Now I'm alive, and she's dead. I should have died. I should have died."

"Now, now," Alice hushed. "That's no way to talk."

"But everything would be better if I just died," Frisk said, knowing the words would make no sense to Alice. Had Frisk allowed herself to die when the Reds attacked, the day would have reset. Her mother would be alive. Yet Frisk was too scared to die, too determined to live. Now, because of her, because of that determination, Toriel no longer lived.

"Dying is never the answer," Alice said, her voice soft but strong. "I don't know who died, but she wouldn't have wanted you to follow her fate. Nobody who truly loves you would want you to." At Frisk's lack of reply, Alice asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Frisk answered.

"Why not?"

To that, Frisk had no response. Alice couldn't understand, and Frisk didn't feel like explaining. It would be easier to keep the pain to herself, locked away where no one else could see.

"Why don't you get dressed and come downstairs then?" Alice suggested. "We can go outside and explore the town together."

"I don't feel like pretending everything's all right," Frisk muttered. Alice's paw was still on her, and Frisk didn't know what to make of the persistent contact.

"You don't have to," Alice insisted. "If you need to cry, then cry. However, you won't begin to feel better if you hide yourself away and wallow in self-pity." Frisk knew Alice was right, but the human didn't want to admit it. "Please at least try," Alice whispered. "I know even those who consider themselves generally sad people wouldn't think locking themselves in their room is a good way to deal with the hurt."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Frisk asked before she knew the words were out.

"Sometimes, a little kindness goes a long way," Alice answered. "Now, what do you say? Want to hang out, or do you have it in mind to keep yourself locked alone in the dark till who knows how long?"

Frisk weighed her options. As much as she wanted to stay hidden under the covers, blind to the world around her, she knew she would be doing herself no favors. If Toriel was still alive, she would advise Frisk go out and get fresh air. Another sob escaped Frisk. It was her fault Toriel was dead. Life shouldn't go on, Frisk shouldn't go on, without Toriel. It wasn't right.

"Would you at least come out from under there?" Alice asked when Frisk still didn't respond. "I want to look in your eyes to know if you'll be all right."

To answer, Frisk removed the covers. The icy air hit her tear-stricken face like a slap, but the chill immediately started to feel nice against the sweat on her neck and forehead. Her eyes found Alice's, their owner smiling after she beheld the human's red, blotchy features.

"You look like someone who could use a mug of hot chocolate and nice conversation with a friend." Alice swept the hair out of Frisk's face. "Would you like that?"

Acting before thinking, Frisk said, "I would like that very much."

"Then I'll tell Mom to start whipping up a kettle." Alice smiled, showing all her teeth. "I'm Alice, by the way."

 _That's right._ The realization nearly stole the air from Frisk's lungs. Because the day had reset, everything between the last time Frisk woke up to her death had never happened. This was, technically, her first time meeting Alice, and this was Alice's first impression of Frisk.

"I'm Frisk," she said, recovering just in time before Alice could worry over the delay.

"You're a very interesting type of monster," Alice pointed out.

"I get that a lot," Frisk said, a blush crawling up her neck and cheeks.

"Well, you are very pretty," Alice said in attempt to keep her bluntness from being taken rudely. She stood to her feet. "I'll go see about that hot chocolate. If you want to freshen up, feel free. I have a few things to do before I come back, so no need to rush."

After Alice had gone, Frisk went to the washroom to clean the sweat off her body and brush the tangles from her hair. Returning to her room, Frisk debated whether or not she should dress. At the sight of the locket on the floor, Frisk decided to remain in her sleepwear. She did, however, approach the chair to clean up her stuff and retrieve the pillow she had thrown.

Sitting legs crisscrossed on the foot of her bed, Frisk hugged the pillow and stared at the locket. Tears fell again from her eyes. Chara was all Frisk had left of her mother, but he hated her. Yet more than anything reasonably possible, Frisk wanted to be friends. She needed him, but in other ways, he was the one thing she didn't need.

Frisk hugged the pillow tighter. What she needed was to not be alone. She needed a friend. Alice, Frisk knew, would be that friend. _Maybe,_ Frisk thought, _when he returns, Sans will be, too._

* * *

What was most likely meant to be half an hour of conversation turned into three hours of sharing life stories before either girl was aware of the time passed. Alice told Frisk about life in Snowdin and how she and the others adjusted to life in Snowdin Two after the Reds destroyed their town. Frisk in turn told Alice about growing up in the Ruins, purposely leaving out details Alice was better off not knowing. Alice talked about her friend Mon, and Frisk talked about the rocks she used to converse with. They discussed books they read, activities they enjoyed, and their favorite baked goods. It was nice to have a female friend.

"One day," Alice declared, "I shall live in the Capital, owning a bakery with the most beautiful pastries and the most delectable chocolates." She still held the mug in her paws despite the hot chocolate running dry a long time ago. Frisk assumed Alice held it as a prop to give her hands something to do. "What about you, Frisk? Any big, wild dreams?"

"I, uh, don't know." Frisk stared at her lap. "I guess I never really thought about it. Before the Reds attacked my home, I simply lived day-to-day life. I kept up with my studies, reread my favorite books, and spent time with my mom. Beyond that life never crossed my mind."

Alice gave a small smile. "You enjoyed your life?"

"Yes," Frisk didn't hesitate to say. Then she frowned. "But . . . I guess things were changing. Well, I was changing. Mom realized I was growing restless with our simple life, but I assured her things would stay the same. Looking back, I think I said what I did because I was scared. I was happy and comfortable despite deep down craving something new, and I didn't want to admit it aloud to anyone but myself. Then our home was attacked, and I was forced to accept the change I didn't want to come. I lost my mom, and I had to flee the only home I knew. Everything's happened so fast. If I could have any one thing, it would be to go back and continue living life as before. It was less scary that way."

Nodding, Alice replied, "Trust me, I understand. You know I do. However, things change whether we want it to or not, and the quicker we accept it, the better."

"I just wish they didn't have to," Frisk muttered.

"Change can be good," Alice assured her, "and trust me when I tell you that I'm saying this just as much to myself as I am to you." Alice smiled. "Find the good in the bad. If there's none to be found, make it. That's all I can really say."

With nothing left to add, Frisk looked at her toes as she said, "Thank you. For sitting with me and talking with me. I . . . I really needed it."

Alice stood, walked across the room, and sat beside Frisk. Wrapping her arm around the human's shoulders, Alice said, "If you ever need to talk, about anything at all, don't be afraid to come to me. I'm going to say this now: I want to be your friend, but I can only help you as much as you let me." Frisk nodded. "Now," Alice said, changing the subject, "how about you and me go downstairs for dinner. I'm sure a hot meal with company will do your weary soul some good."

"I think it will," Frisk agreed. "And Alice?"

"Yes?"

"Can you give me a tour around the town tomorrow?" Frisk asked. "I think some fresh air is starting to be called for."

It was with a grin Alice answered, "If you're feeling up for it, we can check out the library after we eat. You said you like books, right?"

* * *

After dinner, which she ate with Alice, Beatrix, and Peter, Frisk was given a half hour to clean up and dress accordingly. As Frisk tied up her hair then put on her boots, she kept sneaking glances at the locket. She knew she needed to confront Chara sooner rather than later, but her hands shook every time she thought of their inevitable reunion. In more than just one way, she anticipated seeing him again.

When Frisk confirmed she had ten minutes before Alice would check on her, she put the locket on and tried not to glare as Chara reappeared. To no surprise, he was smirking as he beheld Frisk. "Next time you get me killed," Frisk said, voice even, "please don't let it be through drowning."

Chara offered nothing more than a half shrug and a single word. "Noted."

Frowning, Frisk asked, "Why did you trick me into slipping on the ice?"

"I wanted to see if you would come back again," Chara answered. "You know, just to be sure your ability is as reliable as you said it is."

Frisk narrowed her eyes. "Will you try to get me killed again?"

"Possibly."

Done with the conversation, Frisk briefly explained, "It's evening. I stayed in all day. Alice is taking me to the library, and as far as she's concerned, this is my first time seeing Snowdin Two."

"I don't know why you're telling me this." Chara studied his nails. "I can't exactly communicate with your friends."

"Is that a fact that bothers you or relieves you?" Frisk asked before she knew she was speaking. Before Chara noticed, she hid her surprise at herself.

"You would do well to keep your mouth shut," Chara answered, growling.

"I would do well to get rid of you!" Frisk snapped. "Now, I must go. Alice will be waiting for me."

Chara rolled his eyes but said nothing else. He wordlessly followed Frisk, his silence a heavy weight on her shoulders. Keeping from gritting her teeth, Frisk decided that Chara's actions could have been worse.

"Ah, there you are." Alice smiled as Frisk walked down the steps. Taking Frisk's hand, Alice said "Let's go!" as she led her towards the door. Stopping right in front of it, Alice spun around and looked at Frisk. "So, you saw nothing of the town when you were brought here?"

It was the exact question Alice asked in a previous version of this day. Wanting to stick to what she knew, Frisk said, "None of it."

"Well, I hope you like surprises." As before, Alice got behind Frisk and covered her eyes. "I need you to keep your eyes closed until we get to where I want you to be. To do that, you have to trust I won't lead you into a pole or anything." She giggled. "Do you trust me?"

"Why are you letting this play out as before?" Chara asked. "Why not say something new and learn what she will say to a different response?"

It was an interesting suggestion, but not one Frisk wanted to try out just yet. "Yes," she said.

"Good," Alice replied, "because I need you to open the door and lead the way. I'll be right behind you and tell you where to go."

Frisk, knowing everything that would come next, did everything the white rabbit told her to do. When they walked outside, Frisk felt the cold air nip at her face. It all felt the same. Still, Frisk's heart raced at what was to come next.

"On the count of three, okay?"

"Okay, Alice."

Frisk could hear the smile in Alice's voice as she counted. "One, two, three!"

When Alice's paws flew away, Frisk was again lost in awe of the cute town and the large, decorated tree in the center of it. Her smile was genuine as she breathed in the snowy air and surveyed the white sights. "It's beautiful," she whispered, not intending to repeat herself from before. She was too lost in it all to know what she was doing.

"Yeah, it's quite the sight." Alice laid a hand on the small of Frisk's back and gently pushed her forward. "Don't just stand there. Get closer. Smell the tree. Trust me, you'll love the smell just as much as you love the sight."

Enamored by the sights and smells, Frisk's heart continued to flutter as they walked to the library. The only difference this time was Mon's absence, and Frisk didn't know how to bring up a monster she, as far as Alice was concerned, never met. Since their traveling the town was later in the day this time, Frisk could only assume Mon was busying herself elsewhere.

When they entered the "librarby" – Alice told Frisk the story behind the sign, and Frisk paid attention as if it was the first she heard of it – Frisk found herself drifting towards the books. She ran her fingers along the spines, greeting them as old friends. It was like coming home all over again.

Not to Frisk's surprise, Alice giggled. "You really like books, huh?"

"More or less," Frisk said, not caring to give the same replies as before. Mon wasn't here, and that alone made this experience a different one. Again Frisk's eyes landed on the history, but she felt Chara watching her from behind. He had not spoken, but his presence was impossible to forget.

"Why don't we each check out a book or two?" Alice suggested. "We can sit by the fire and read after we get back. Maybe have some more hot chocolate."

"You had hot chocolate without me?" Chara asked, and he hitched his voice in a way to make it sound as if he was hurt.

Frisk rose an eyebrow at him. If he wasn't smirking, she wouldn't know he merely acted. It was confirmation enough that any emotion Chara showed was as calculated as she previously wondered.

Pulling herself away from the history, Frisk joined Alice as she searched the fairytale section. The selection was small, but Alice pointed out a couple she thought Frisk might like. Since they were thin, Frisk pulled both off the shelf. As Alice looked for a book for herself, Frisk noticed an out of place book within the fairytales.

 _The Royal Family_. The misplacement must have been done by someone visiting the library – the title sounded as if it belonged to a tale, but the sticker on the spine of the book had a series of numbers similar to the history Frisk had just looked at. No librarian would have left this book there.

Before she knew what she was doing, Frisk snuck a glance at Chara to assure he wasn't paying attention and then yanked the book off the shelf. Reasoning did not come till later, but it fit well with her actions. Asgore had tried to take Chara's soul, so it was plausible that the event was documented within the pages. It was losing both his sons that gave the king reason to hate humanity, and Frisk began to wonder if Chara was responsible. The things he said came back to Frisk as she and Alice checked out their books and walked back to the inn. It took a lot of effort to not look at Chara during the trek.

Chara was human, a painfully obvious fact, and Frisk didn't forget Chara said he deserved to die. Maybe Chara had done something, intentionally or not, to result in King Asgore losing his sons. It would explain some things, but there were still more questions rising to the surface.

Upon returning to the inn, Frisk went to her room to drop off the history and a fairytale. As she took the other tale downstairs to read with Alice, Frisk plotted inside her head. After she and Alice turned in for the night and Frisk took off the locket, she would begin reading about the royal family to find where Chara fit into all of this. His past was a total mystery to her, but it wasn't going to stay that way. One way or another, Frisk was going to learn who and what, exactly, was Chara.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

"That no good, lazy a-!" Undyne tried not to rip her hair from her scalp. Sans was not at their rendezvous – Grillby's, the one place anyone could find the skeleton monster. His absence wouldn't have been an issue if he wasn't an hour late to the place he always, without fail, arrived to first. Turning to Papyrus, Undyne asked after taking a deep breath, "Have you called your brother?"

"Thirteen times, each with no response," Papyrus answered, embarrassed to tell Undyne not what she wanted to hear. "Maybe he got the time mixed up?" he suggested, weakly grasping for anything to explain his twin's absence.

Undyne didn't believe it but chose to keep that thought to herself. It wasn't Papyrus's fault Sans was unreliable; there was no need to take her frustration out on the goofball. To distract herself, Undyne studied the notes she got from Doggo for the seventeenth time.

 _"_ _It was the strangest thing,"_ he told her and Papyrus. _"This ghost stick just came out of nowhere. Maybe a spirit from the afterlife wielded it? All I know is it came and went without a trace."_

 _Of course,_ Undyne thought, _he's practically blind._ Shaking her head, Undyne examined her other notes. Doggo came across the "strange stick" the same day the trap was sprung. If there was one thing Undyne believed, it was that there was never, under any circumstances, such a thing as coincidences.

It was with a steady hand Undyne wrote, _The human made it past Sans's station undetected and came across Doggo, who actually pays attention to his job._ Gritting her teeth, Undyne scratched out the last part. _For some strange reason,_ she continued to write, _the human decided to evade Doggo by playing a game of fetch. After Doggo was tired out, the human continued to travel down Snowdin Road, where it solved the puzzles Papyrus laid out and set off the alarm. Evidence suggests it was heading to Snowdin Town._

"Except a certain someone isn't here to tell me what he found," Undyne muttered.

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation Sans isn't here yet," Papyrus tried.

"He ditched, that's the reasonable explanation." Undyne picked up her glass and chugged the burning liquid down in one gulp. She asked Grillby for another and tipped the bottom up for that shot as well.

"Sans wouldn't disappear from a major investigation," Papyrus said, believing every word to be the truth. He pushed away his fries, uncertain why he ordered such greasy food in the first place, and Undyne took this as the opportunity to help herself. "He must have gotten caught up on a lead."

Raising an eyebrow, Undyne questioned, "And he didn't think to call?"

"My brother doesn't think things through as thoroughly as the Great Papyrus does." Papyrus threw his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll go look for him right now and have him back here before you know it."

"Papyrus, wait, it could be danger-" But he was gone before Undyne could finish. Undyne slumped in her chair, internally cursing the skeleton brothers' ability to teleport. Some monsters flinched when they noticed Papyrus disappear in their peripheral, but there were little other reactions from the patrons. One did a double take, but that was it.

Undyne's cursing grew in volume. Her interview with Doggo confirmed that if not the human, _someone_ was definitely in the Underground along with the human. Whoever this was may have chosen to spare Doggo instead of killing him, but that didn't make this person safe. For all Undyne knew, Papyrus was looking for danger simply by hunting down his brother. There was no doubt Papyrus could take care of himself if need be, but that didn't mean Undyne would rest easy till she saw him again.

She couldn't bear losing another loved one, not when she was still recovering.

Swearing one final time, Undyne snatched her things and stormed out of Grillby's. If Sans wasn't going to show up to give her his report, then she would check out what was left of Snowdin Town herself.

* * *

Meeting Mon for the second time was more or less the same from Frisk's first encounter with the monster. Frisk tried to keep her responses as close to the original meeting, but since Alice had already shown Frisk the town the day before, there was even less for Frisk to latch onto when it came to befriending the monster. The girls sat at a table in the lobby of Beatrix's inn, trying to find some way to spend their afternoon. As before, Mon insisted on seeing the river, but Frisk firmly told Mon that there was no way in the Underground she would be going anywhere near water.

"What are you," Mon snorted, "scared?"

"Of drowning? Yes."

"You're not going to drown."

 _Experience proves otherwise._ Frisk shook her head. "No river." She was glad Chara wasn't there. She wore the locket so it wasn't that the human was unaware, but he ventured off to wherever the locket would let him travel. It seemed he had no interest in what she did, and she wished she wasn't curious to how he spent his time elsewhere.

"Well I don't know what else you expect we do!" Mon snapped.

"I don't see why we can't play games," Alice tried, her sweet demeanor slipping as her irritation with Mon grew. "We got card games, board games-"

"Boring!" Mon slowly rotated her neck, enjoying each crack in her spine. "If you're going to play a game, why not make it a fun one?"

"Such as?" Frisk asked, doing her best to not add to Alice's frustration.

"Darts," Mon answered. "We can go to my place and throw darts. Losers have to clean the winner's room for the next week."

Deciding it would be wise to not mention Mon's lack of arms, Frisk turned to Alice and said, "I'm up for it if you are."

With a groan, Alice replied, "Fine, fine. We can play darts. However, we don't need to go all the way to Mon's house. We have a dartboard in the game room."

"You wouldn't mind an extra player, would ya?" a new voice asked, and Frisk's heart stopped. "We could split into teams."

Snapping her head around, Frisk sagged at the familiar face before her. "Sans," she whispered, the name sounding like her salvation.

"You again," Mon sneered. She stood abruptly from the table. "You know what, I don't really want to play games anymore. I think I'm going to go home and bully my sister." Without another word, Mon stalked out of the inn, ignoring Sans and not sparing a backwards glance at Frisk and Alice.

Sans didn't seem phased by Mon's exit. He simply shrugged and suggested, "I'll play winner."

"I'm surprised you showed," Alice said, neither malice nor bitterness in her words. Just caution. "Last time you said you would be back in three days, it took you over three weeks just to remember we exist."

"I didn't have someone bleeding to death last time," Sans pointed out. "Just because I don't have a heart doesn't make me heartless."

With a shake of her head, Alice turned to Frisk and asked, "How do you know this monster?"

"How do you know him?" Frisk returned, surprising herself.

If the bluntness got to Alice, she didn't show it. "Old neighbor of ours, back in Snowdin," Alice answered. "He was the one who warned us about the Reds." Turning to Sans with the first sign of mistrust in her eyes, Alice added, "He saved us from Red hands, yet he still associates with them. We tolerate him because he saved us, but very few of us here trust him."

Sans took a seat across from the girls. "No need to talk about me like I'm not in the room, sweetheart," he said. To Frisk, "How are you doing?"

"Anemic, but alive." Frisk looked him over. "Where were you this whole time?"

"Y'know, here and there." Sans waved his bony hand in the air. "Alice, mind telling your mom that I'm here and that Frisk and I will be speaking in one of her rooms?"

Alice looked at Sans as if she wanted to answer, _"Yes, I do mind."_ "Not a problem at all," was how she chose to respond. "We'll have lunch ready for you when you're finished. Do you want a hamburger or a hot dog?"

"Surprise me."

To Frisk, "And you would like?"

"Whatever he's having," Frisk told Alice.

After the rabbit monster walked away, Sans asked Frisk to follow him. It was at this time Chara decided to return. He said nothing, only glaring at Sans in malice that would make Alice's distrustful stare appear as if she thought of Sans as the town hero.

"Good thing I came back when I did," Chara said. "Be careful what you tell him, okay, Stripes? You're gullible, and until proven otherwise, you shouldn't trust him as far as you can throw him."

Frisk nodded the slightest bit to signal that she understood. However, she had many arguments for Chara she wanted to voice. _"Sans helped me back with his brother and then saved me when I was dying." "If Sans wanted to kill me, he would have already." "There's nothing I have to offer that he could possibly want."_ She kept all comments to herself. The only reason she was able to give Chara the benefit of the doubt was because Alice, a very trusting character from what Frisk could tell after knowing her from a day that happened and one that didn't, was weary of Sans, the monster who supposedly saved her and everyone else's life.

After shutting the door behind them, Sans signaled for Frisk to sit on the bed while he sat on the desk chair. "Does anyone suspect you of being a human?" he asked, cutting straight to the point.

Chara, who stood next to Sans's sitting figure, nodded. Frisk swallowed and answered, "Other than Beatrix, Peter, and the dog, I don't think so. Most comments I hear are of how strange of a monster I am."

The way Sans nodded implied he was relieved. "You doing just fine here?"

"Better than I thought I would," Frisk replied before Chara could give his thoughts. Then at his insistence, Frisk asked, "What did you do to cause such weariness in these townspeople?"

If Sans was surprised, it didn't show. Not having eyebrows gave him such an advantage. "When you keep allegiance with the people who tried to kill your friends, naturally your friends are not going to be inclined to openly trust you even if you warned them in time to save their lives."

"But why?" Frisk furrowed her brows. "You have to agree burning down Snowdin was wrong if you warned its residents to flee. Why continue being a Red after that? Why continue being a Red if you're helping me?"

"There's a lot more to Reds and Blues you don't understand," Sans answered. His left eye began to glow red, as did his hand. The pens on the desk also glowed red, and they soon levitated and danced along with the motions Sans waved his illuminated fingers. "It's not as easy and straightforward as black and white," he explained. "Just as there's shades of gray, the Underground also has shades of – what do red and blue make?"

"Purple," Frisk supplied after a second of thought.

"The Underground also has shades of purple," Sans continued. He kept playing with the floating pens. "There is no such thing as good and evil. We're all in the middle, but some of us lean towards one more than the other."

Chara bit his lip. He wanted to disagree with Sans, Frisk could tell, but he honestly couldn't. For once, Frisk was the one to take Sans's words with a grain of salt.

"I disagree," she began. "About there being no such thing as good and evil and that we're all in the middle. Even if no one is completely evil, we're all selfish, and that puts nobody on the good side of this seesaw. It doesn't matter if we make bad decisions with good intentions or good decisions with bad intentions – the foundation for most the choices we make is 'What do I want? What will make me happy?' Being selfish is easy, but being good, putting the needs of others above your own, is hard."

The boys' reactions were complete opposites. Chara crossed his arms and wouldn't look at Frisk at all. Sans stared at her as if her words were written all over her and he wanted to read them for himself.

It was Sans who challenged her by asking, "Do you think even the worst person can change . . . ? That everybody can be a good person, if they just try?"

To answer that question, Frisk tried to imagine the worst person she could ever possibly meet. She sucked in a sharp breath when she realized she didn't have to think half as long as she suspected.

The worst person Frisk could ever meet was the monster who killed Toriel. Kind, motherly Toriel who wouldn't even fight back. Toriel who died saving a child that may not have been her flesh and blood but was still just as much her heart.

Frisk asked herself if anyone who would kill Toriel could ever change if they really just tried. Shivering in a way that had nothing to do with the cold, Frisk answered, "No." There was no way she could believe that anyone who would kill Toriel could ever, ever change. Not for the better.

If Sans wanted an explanation for her reasoning, he didn't ask for it. Frisk dared not look at Chara. For a few minutes no one in the room spoke. Sans kept levitating the pens in the air, and Frisk, with nothing else to do, watched him.

"You're left-handed," she pointed out, desperate for any conversation topic to latch onto. "Like me," she added quietly, her cheeks turning red.

"Ah, so the brotherhood grows." Sans returned the pens to their mug. Turning his full attention to Frisk, Sans questioned, "Are you happy here?"

"Uh," Frisk shifted on the bed, "yeah, I am."

"You think the town's nice?"

"So far, yes. Snowdin Two is really cozy."

"And you feel safe?"

"For the first time in a long time."

"Then that settles it." Sans leaned back in the chair and placed his hands behind his head. "This should be a great new home for you."

"I suppose it cou- Wait a minute." Frisk angled her body forward and looked pointedly at Sans. "You want me to stay here?"

Sans shrugged. "Don't see why not. Said so yourself you're happy here and feel safe."

"That's exactly what you said, Stripes," Chara added, smirking at her.

"But I can't stay," Frisk argued. "I need to leave."

"Leave Snowdin Two?" Sans sounded disbelieving. "Where could you possibly go that would be better than Snowdin Two?"

"I want to leave the Underground," Frisk corrected. "The surface might or might not be better than Snowdin Two, but it'll definitely be safer."

"I don't know if you're aware," Sans said slowly, sitting upright, "but there's a barrier keeping us all trapped Underground. Nothing can get in, and nothing can get out. That includes you, human."

"I got into the Underground despite a barrier," Frisk argued, "so certainly I should be able to get out."

"It's suicide."

"I'd rather die trying than die hiding."

Chara whistled. "Didn't think a person like you would say something like that, even if you can't really die."

Shaking his head, Sans said, "If I knew you had a death wish, I would've just left you there in the cold."

Although Sans wasn't completely wrong to say that, his words still struck Frisk like a spear to the heart. "I have to leave," she insisted. "Humans don't belong Underground."

"And monsters do?" Sans's eye was glowing red again, and this time Frisk was sure it wasn't because he wanted to play with the furniture a second time.

"I didn't say that," Frisk said, heart jumping in her throat. Chara snickered, and it took all she had to not glare at him.

"No, you didn't." Sans's eye stopped glowing, and he stood up and tucked in the chair. "I'll pay for your month stay at Beatrix's inn," he said. "If you want to leave, I can't stop you, but don't run off without having a plan. The monsters out there aren't as friendly as the monsters here."

"You said so yourself it's less of red and blue and more like shades of purple," Frisk pointed out.

"And you said we can have bad actions with good intentions," Sans replied. He tucked his hands into his hoodie pockets. "I need to go, kid, but I'll be checking back in every chance I get, so don't get any ideas."

Before Frisk could respond, Sans was gone.

After a solid heartbeat, Chara said, "I think that went well."

Frisk bit her lip. "We can't stay here. We need to get to the surface."

"Why?" Chara challenged.

"Mom told us to!" Frisk snapped. She began pacing the room. "Why are you asking a question you already know the answer to?"

"I think you need to be asking yourself why you're entire motivation for getting out of here is because Mommy told you to," Chara snapped back.

"It was her dying wish for you and I make it to safety."

"Perhaps she should have found better ways to protect you than to shelter you for eight years."

"Well whatever strategy she chose to protect you clearly didn't work." After the words came out of Frisk's mouth, she realized what she had said.

It was only slightly, but Chara's shoulders drooped, and his previously crossed arms dropped to his sides. His eyes narrowed, glaring at her with a hatred that made Frisk want to cower in the corner. When he spoke, his words were calm and hinted at no anger. "There was nothing she could have done for me, just as there is nothing she can do for you now. I made my choice, now it's time for you to make yours. Are you really satisfied knowing everything you now do is for a dead woman?"

Words spoken softly, Frisk said, "I was the one who killed her. You said so yourself that her death was my fault. Shouldn't I give up everything to make sure in the end she gets what she wanted?"

Before Chara could answer, Frisk swung open the door and stomped down the stairs. She came into the kitchen just in time to see Sans take a brown bag from Beatrix. It looked as if he was taking his food to go.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Sans said, looking at Beatrix but clearly addressing Frisk. "We need to discuss payments for the kid's room."

"I'm sure Frisk is old enough to discuss such matters with me," Beatrix said, unaware of the human standing behind her. "She's able to work here at the inn – there's no reason she can't help Alice and Peter keep things up and running with me."

"Either way, I'll be back," Sans said. Spinning on his heel, Sans shouted, "Thanks for the dog!" as he exited.

Frisk turned around and scurried up the stairs. When she entered her room, she closed the door, locked it, and scooped up her backpack. Going through its contents, she muttered, "Everything I packed at home should be enough. The original Snowdin isn't far from what appears to be a warmer, albeit darker, climate. Once there, I can figure out what to do next."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with that comedian," Chara said. "If you're going to play runaway, at least have a plan."

"I do have a plan," Frisk argued.

"If that vague map inside your head is your plan, then you might as well give up. Stripes, you have a terrible habit of acting without thinking."

"And I should listen to you, the one who got me killed twice?" Frisk threw her backpack under the bed. "I can't stay, and I need to leave before Sans finds a way to keep me here."

"He didn't threaten you or blackmail you into staying, you know."

"Why are you on his side all of a sudden?!" Frisk exhaled sharply. Seeing her companion give her a knowing look, Frisk asked, "Chara, what are you not telling me?"

"Which thing? You know I keep a lot of secrets."

"For starters," Frisk tried to clarify, "where were you earlier? What did you see? What do you know that I- No. What do you know that Sans doesn't know?"

"What I saw"– Chara walked towards Frisk and stood over her, the closest they have ever been –"was that comedian taking the back entrance to Beatrix's inn. What I saw but he didn't see was that he was being followed."

Frisk's knees nearly buckled from under her. She reached out to hold on to Chara, but she screamed when her hands went right through his body. Falling backwards, Frisk landed on the bed and stared up at him.

When Chara approached her, Frisk noticed things she hadn't before. He wasn't much taller than she – his nose was at level with her eyes. Chara didn't have the kind of strong, square jaw like the kings in her old fairytale books, his cheeks and forehead had what appeared to be acne scars, and he wasn't much wider than she, having shoulders she would never describe as broad. How human he looked sent Frisk into a trance, so much so that she forgot until too late that he wasn't really there.

"I would suggest you don't try touching me again," Chara said when the gaping Frisk failed to say anything. "The thing is, you can't."

"Can you touch me?" Frisk asked, surprising herself with the question.

There was no hesitation in Chara to reach out and slap her. Frisk flinched at the action, but his hand went right through her face. She didn't feel a thing.

"Unfortunately, no," Chara answered. "Now pull yourself together, Stripes. If I have to put up with you, I would prefer you don't faint regularly."

"Then I guess I'll stay seated then," Frisk replied, not showing Chara how much his ghostly presence got to her.

Chara was human. He looked like her, was built like her, and had a soul like hers. Except she was alive, and he was dead. As alike as they were, there still existed an unbreakable barrier. In the rawest sense, she was just alone in the Underground as he was.

Taking herself out of those thoughts, Frisk asked, "Did you see who followed Sans?"

It was with a sinister chuckle Chara answered, "You're not going to believe it, Stripes. The mastermind who followed behind your comedian without his noticing is that pathetic brother of his."


	12. Chapter 12

**_Chapter 12_**

That night, Frisk wasted no time packing her few belongings and hiding them under the bed. She feigned exhaustion to convince Beatrix that she was going to turn in early. "Good night, dear," Beatrix had said. Peter waved.

"Good night," Frisk returned as she waved back. To shut up Chara before he could try to talk her out of her stupidity, Frisk removed the locket upon entering her room. With nothing else to do save wait for everyone else to go to sleep, Frisk let down her hair, crawled under the covers, and read the book on the royal monster family. If anyone walked into the room, she could pretend to be sleeping, and they would think she fell asleep reading.

Not knowing where to start with the book, Frisk began at the beginning. Perhaps the fate of King Asgore's sons would be present in the pages. Whether or not Chara had any involvement would be revealed, assuming the book covered that far into the royal family's history.

When she had finished the reign of the first king hours later - with obviously no information on Chara - Frisk deemed it was safe to sneak out. Having neither clock nor sun to give her the time, Frisk used her growing fatigue and heavying eyes to tell her the likeliness of all the monsters of Snowdin Two being in bed by now. Perhaps that would be enough.

If not, Frisk hoped she could sneak out undetected regardless.

Pack fished from under the bed and thrown over her shoulder, Frisk crept out of her room. None of the lamps were lit. Beatrix must have retired.

Frisk tied up her hair as she snuck down the hall and down the stairs. All was quiet as she approached the exit. Her fingers just grazed the doorknob when a voice called out to her.

"Frisk?"

Heart jumping up her throat, Frisk spun around to see Alice standing at the top of the stairs. A fluffy robe covered Alice's nightgown, and fuzzy slippers poked out from underneath. Pulling the robe closer to her body, Alice asked, "What are you doing?"

"I can ask the same of you," was Frisk's answer. "What are you doing at this time of night?"

"Getting a glass of water, something you're clearly not doing." Alice walked down the steps and approached Frisk. The human made no movement. "You're running away," Alice said, eyeing the pack hanging on Frisk's elbow. She nearly dropped it when Alice scared her.

"I can't stay, Alice," Frisk whispered.

A pained expression crossed Alice's face. "Why?"

"I just can't."

Eyes narrowing, Alice asked, "Was it something Sans said to you?"

"Yes. Wait, I mean no. Um, yes and no."

"Frisk, you don't have to leave. If it's what he said, I promise we can figure something out. Don't let him scare you away."

"It's, uh, a lot more complicated than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there's too much to explain. There's so much I can't say," Frisk answered.

Reaching out, Alice rested a hand on Frisk's shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'll do the best I can to help."

Frisk swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Then you need to let me go."

"What?" Alice furrowed her brows. "Frisk, I want to help you, but I can't help if you won't let me."

"You can help me by letting me go," Frisk insisted. "Please. I know I'm asking you to trust me when I'm not giving you any reason to, but I really can't talk about it. Alice, I'll be in danger if I talk about it. You'll be in danger just for knowing."

Alice's eyes stopped focusing on Frisk. They went distant, as if Alice saw something Frisk couldn't, as if she was putting together a puzzle in her mind. When the pieces were together, Alice stared at Frisk with a look of utter disbelief. "The human rumored to be Underground," she said so softly Frisk almost didn't hear her. "Frisk, you're that human." Frisk's silence was answer enough for Alice. "Oh my God, Frisk!"

"Please don't be mad," Frisk pleaded, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "You understand why I couldn't tell you, don't you?"

"Of course," Alice nodded, "of course. But why leave? You'd be a lot safer here." Alice's eyes narrowed again. "Unless Sans is threatening you or something."

Frisk decided not to mention that Sans wanted for Frisk to stay in Snowdin Two. If Chara, another person who wasn't a fan of Sans, agreed with the skeleton monster on the plan, then Frisk didn't doubt Alice would as well. So, as she forced her dry lips to form words, Frisk replied, "You could say he did."

The monster chewed on her lower lip. "It won't be safe for you if you leave."

"I know, that's why I'm going to the surface."

Alice had no response. She wiped her eyes, revealing to Frisk that Alice was trying not to cry. "I shouldn't be this upset," Alice muttered as if she was only half-speaking to Frisk. "I hardly know you. There's no reason your leaving should sadden me this much, yet I feel as if I'm losing a best friend."

"I'll be losing a friend, too," Frisk said softly. "You're the first friend I've had in a long, long time. I'll miss you, Alice. More than I can say, but I need to go. It will be better that way. Not just for me, but for you as well. The Reds killed my mom for hiding me. I don't want to imagine what they'll do to you if they find out I'm here."

Nodding, Alice replied, "I see. If you must go, then you should wait no longer." She sighed. "Promise me you'll be safe, Frisk."

"I promise." Then, before she could think about it, Frisk lunged towards Alice and wrapped the rabbit monster in a hug Alice was quick to return.

There was more Frisk wanted to say, but she didn't have the words. She wanted to express gratitude to Alice for letting her go, she wanted to tell the monster how much her friendship meant to her, and she wanted to find a way to escape the Underground but still have Alice alongside her. Pain gnawed at Frisk's fragile heart again. If she was doing the right thing, it shouldn't have hurt so much. Yet it did.

Breaking the hug, Frisk whispered her goodbye before she slipped out the door. Frisk forced one foot in front of the other and told herself this was for the best. When she turned around and saw Alice watching her through the inn window, Frisk couldn't help but ask herself if she was making a mistake.

* * *

Alice's hands wouldn't stop shaking. _Frisk is a human. Frisk is a human. Frisk is a human._ The words kept playing over and over in her head, as if repeating them on a loop would help her believe them.

For eight years Frisk lived in the Ruins, raised by whatever monster was kind enough to take her in. Then the Reds killed that same monster, whom Frisk called "Mom," leaving Frisk no choice but to flee for her life. Knowing what Frisk was gave her story a new perspective.

"I can't find her anywhere!" Beatrix told Doge. "How does a person just disappear? Oh, I'm a failure! I can't even protect one child."

"Don't speak like that," Doge said, reaching out and taking Beatrix's hand. She used her thumb to rub small circles on her friend's palm. "You have protected Alice her whole life; I think that merits something."

Chewing her lower lip, Alice kept scrubbing at the dishes. It was the only thing she could do to keep busy. Her mother assumed Alice was simply worried about her missing friend and did not suspect Alice was hiding something about Frisk. All that did was add guilt to Alice's anxiety.

 _It's for the greater good,_ Alice told herself, only half believing it. There was no knowing if Frisk was okay. There was no way of knowing if by letting Frisk leave, Alice did the right thing.

"If you're a failure for not protecting a child, then so am I."

Alice froze at the voice. _Why is he back so soon?!_

"You have no idea where the human has gone?" Sans asked, approaching Beatrix and Doge but eyes on Alice. There was no malice in his voice. He truly sounded exhausted.

"None," Beatrix answered, casting Alice a quick glance. "She retired early last night, but I didn't think anything of it until she failed to come downstairs for breakfast this morning. When I checked on her, she was gone. All her things were missing as well."

"I see." To Doge. "Nothing to report?"

"Negative," she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I could scent early on that the human feared me, so I kept my distance. Now I see I should not have mistaken distance for absence. If anyone could have stopped her, it was me."

"And what about you, Alice?" Sans asked, turning to her. "I'm sure you would know something."

"I don't know anything," Alice answered, disgusted that Sans used her name.

"Yet you know that Frisk is a human," Sans said.

Alice's heart stopped. When Sans called Frisk "the human," he was looking for a reaction from her. That's why Beatrix looked at Alice when answering Sans's question.

"Interesting," Sans continued, "since I know your mother didn't tell you." Beatrix stared at Alice, disbelief written all over her face. Sans took a single step forward. "Where's Frisk?"

"If you think I'm going to tell a dirty rotten traitor like you-" Alice was cut off when Sans used his magic to drag her towards him. Trying not to cry out in surprise, Alice forced herself to ignore the weightlessness she felt as her feet hovered above the ground.

"Where is Frisk?" Sans repeated.

 _How would Mon respond?_ "Eat ashes," Alice said and spat. However, Sans's gravitational magic kept her spit from hitting him, so instead the saliva dribbled down her chin. Alice resisted the urge to wipe it away.

"Alice, dear," Beatrix tried, "if you know something, you need to tell us."

"So he can get a hold of her?" Alice questioned. "Why should we trust him? He's a Red! That makes him Frisk's enemy."

"If I wanted to hurt Frisk," Sans said, "do you honestly think I would have brought her here to get treatment? A kid as smart as you should know better."

"Maybe you need her well for something else," Alice said through gritted teeth. "You're the evil mastermind, not me."

"Enough games." With that, Sans let Alice go. The white rabbit fell to the floor. When Alice sat herself on her knees, Sans quickly said, "The captain of the royal guard herself is after Frisk. I'm trying to hide Frisk from her. If Frisk isn't here, it's only a matter of time before Undyne sniffs her out. Now, Alice, I'm going to ask one more time. Where. Is. Frisk?"

Jaw going slack, Alice rambled, "I- I didn't know she'd be in-! Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no. I don't know where Frisk went. Honest! She left last night and only told me that she was going to the surface. I didn't know Undyne was already on the hunt for her! Oh, no. If Frisk dies- If Frisk dies-!" Alice put her teary face into her palms. "This is my fault."

"What do we do?" Beatrix asked, turning to Sans.

"The only thing you can do," Sans answered. "Hope someone less dangerous gets to Frisk first."

* * *

"I think you'll die again before the sun sets," Chara said nonchalantly. He didn't deliver the verbal lashing Frisk expected when she put the locket back on, but he didn't shy away from voicing his lack of faith in her. Perhaps he knew the latter would get under Frisk's skin more.

"Do all dead guys talk so much, or is it just you?" Frisk asked, knowing the blow was low even before Chara sneered. If he intended to irritate her, she would give it right back to him.

"Are all human girls as boring as you?" was Chara's response.

The question had a different effect on Frisk than what Chara intended. "You ask as if you aren't familiar with human girls," she pointed out. When Chara remained silent, Frisk knew he was avoiding the question. "Did Mom raise you from a young enough age that you don't remember what human girls are like?"

"I wasn't that young," Chara answered. "I just didn't associate with girls. They were too annoying."

There was finality in his words, and Frisk knew if she asked more, he wouldn't answer. She frowned. _I guess we're not that different when it comes to interacting with other humans,_ she thought before scowling. It was childish, but she hated finding things in common with Chara. Being raised by the same monster, however, probably gave them more in common than she was comfortable with. _How could Mom raise two children as different from each other as Chara and me?_

Before she could process another thought, a large bone shot towards her as she and Chara entered the clearing. Screeching, Frisk tensed up as the bone flew past her. Slowly she looked towards where the bone had come, and standing a distance was the skeleton monster who was not her friend.

"He's good," Chara said as if he didn't want to admit it. "I didn't even see him coming."

"Human!" Papyrus called. He opened his mouth to say more, but he froze with his jaw hanging open. Frisk could hear him hum from where she was. "You are a human, right?" he asked loud enough for Frisk to hear.

Dumbstruck, all Frisk could do was nod.

"YES!" Papyrus fist pumped. "Once I capture you, I'll be accepted back into the Royal Guard?"

"We're about ten yards away, and yet I can hear him as if he's standing right here," Chara said. "I don't like him. He's loud and obnoxious."

"You don't like anyone," Frisk muttered, which caused Papyrus to shout "WHAT?!"

"Maybe if I back away real slowly," Frisk muttered to herself, taking a couple small steps back before her feet became too heavy to move. Her brows shot up at her heavy feet. "What is goin-" Her screams cut off what she was saying. As if being pulled by a rope tied around her waist, Frisk hurled through the air towards Papyrus.

When she finished flailing through the air, she fell to her knees just five feet away from Papyrus.

"Sorry," Papyrus apologized, "but I couldn't hear you from all the way over there. What were you saying?"

"I was thinking what lovely weather we're having," Frisk lied. Chara snorted.

"Hmmm." Papyrus looked Frisk over. "I hate to inform you, human, but there is no weather Underground."

"It was a joke," Frisk said, rising to shaky feet. She tried not to stare at his scarlet scarf.

"Oh, then you are funny, human!" Papyrus laughed. "Such a shame I must capture you now."

"I have an idea," Frisk tried. "How about you don't?"

"Nyehehe! I like your humor!" Papyrus kept laughing.

"Humor?" Chara snorted. "Stripes, you're as funny as a rock."

"Rocks have a great sense of humor, so I take that as a compliment," Frisk said quietly enough for Papyrus to not hear over his laughter.

"All right, enough of that." Papyrus smiled, or maybe that was his face. "I need to capture you. Surrender, and that will be the end of it."

"And if I don't want to surrender?" Frisk tried, her knees growing weak.

She felt the tremble in the ground just in time. Jumping back, Frisk barely managed to avoid getting skewered by the bone that now jutted from the ground. The bone shone brightly before exploding into fragments of light. Papyrus's smiling face greeted her from the other side of the bone.

"I was hoping you would make this easy for the both of us," Papyrus said, shaking his head. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way."

"Gahh!" Frisk cried out as her shoulders felt as if a great weight fell on them. Her feet became so heavy it was as if her boots were filled with lead. She could still stand upright, but her weight now made her previous weight seem as if she could fly through the air.

"Uh, Stripes," Chara said slowly, "you're glowing."

Looking at her fingers, Frisk saw that Chara was right. Blue light outlined her fingers, and when she looked down, she saw the light covering her entire body. She looked up at Papyrus, her eyes wide.

"Now you're blue," Papyrus explained. "That's my attack. Let's see how high you can jump. Nyehehehehe!"

Bones hurled towards Frisk before she had time to curse. She sidestepped one, ducked another, but failed to avoid the third. It didn't spear her, but it did hit her hard enough to send her flying halfway across the clearing.

Ribs bruising, Frisk pushed herself to her feet. Her body still weighed her down, but she was growing used to it. Frisk took a step forward.

"Try jumping!" Papyrus suggested. Another bone headed towards Frisk, this one coming horizontal instead of vertical. Frisk had no choice but to jump.

Bending her knees and pushing through the balls of her feet, Frisk jumped. She tried not to gape in wonder as she performed the highest tuck jump in her life. The bone passed under and left her untouched.

Frisk fell with a heavy thud, groaning at the pain the land shot through her ankles. No matter how she jumped, she needed to be careful with her landing. She didn't necessarily want any new injuries.

"That's how you do it!" Papyrus exclaimed before hurling more bones at her.

To keep from getting hit, Frisk ducked, jumped, and dodged every bone sent her way. It was as she jumped, however, that another bone came at her from higher up, and she jumped right into it. The bone slammed into her forehead, knocking her over.

Frisk landed on her back, head pounding. She felt a little blood trickle from the cut she received. Taking a deep breath, Frisk stood back up.

"And you were doing so well until now." Chara tsked. "Watch where you're going."

Even if Chara meant to mock her, Frisk took the words as advice.

"Why don't you fight!" Papyrus demanded. Frisk stood still, staring at Papyrus. "Not fighting, eh? Well, enough warming up! Let's mix it up, shall we?"

"Wha-!" Frisk felt her feet go out from beneath her, the world turning upside down. When the motion stopped, Frisk realized she _was_ upside down. Panicked, Frisk tried to make sense of the situation. Her feet now settled on a floor she couldn't see. Looking down, Frisk saw the sky. Upwards showed the messy snow she previously stood on.

Whatever Papyrus's magic was, her body didn't feel as if it wasn't upright. No blood rushed to her head. Even her hair still pointed down her back. It was as if Papyrus manipulated gravity itself.

"Okay, I'm impressed," Chara begrudgingly admitted. "That is pretty neat."

"Dodge this, human!" Papyrus sent more bones towards Frisk.

She was hit a few times, but when Frisk adjusted, she avoided the bones as she did when upside up. Yet as time passed, Papyrus's attacks got more creative. Bones would come from forward and behind. They would come from top and bottom. Their sizes would change, possibly an optical illusion, and hit Frisk when she thought she had stepped out of their way.

A tremble ran through her body before gravity returned to normal. Frisk plopped onto the snow and wasted no time jumping to her feet. More bones were coming. She dodged each one, but the blue one got her in the stomach.

Frisk, the wind knocked out of her, fell a ways back and collapsed to the ground. She struggled to breathe again, unable to get up. Standing over her, Chara snarled.

"Idiot!" he shouted. "Didn't you learn from before that blue attacks can't hurt you if you're standing still?"

If she had more control of her body in that moment, Frisk would have given him a rude hand gesture.

The air Frisk thought she had collected vanished again when the smiling skeleton monster stood over her. Papyrus knelt by her side and began binding her wrist and ankles. Too weak to do much else, Frisk let him.

"Just wait until Undyne sees you!" Papyrus exclaimed, his loud voice ringing in Frisk's ears. "Just wait until Sans hears I caught a human!"

"Some help he was in the long run," Chara muttered. "Really, Stripes, you probably should have listened to that comedian."

When Frisk was bound, Papyrus picked the human up and threw her over his shoulder. "This is so exciting!" he shouted, clearly unable to contain himself. "They'll have to let me back into the royal guard now!"

As much as her body hurt, Frisk couldn't help but ask, "If you would be let back in to the royal guard, that means you were there before. What happened to get you out of the royal guard?"

She felt Papyrus tense up from under her. "Let's not talk about that," he answered.

Frisk shrugged and allowed herself to dangle across Papyrus's shoulder. Chara followed a few steps behind, looking more annoyed than worried. At least Papyrus didn't kill her.

"I have an idea," Papyrus said after a minute. "Why don't we talk about something else. Tell me, human, what do you like?"

Furrowing her brows, Frisk questioned, "You mean like a pastime?"

"Exactly!"

"Umm." Frisk bit her lip. "I like puzzles, I guess."

Papyrus gasped loudly and nearly dropped Frisk. "You like puzzles, too?!"

"Uh, yes. Yes, I do."

"Have you seen the X and circle puzzle in Snowdin Forest?"

"Yes, and I solved every one."

"I designed those puzzles!"

"Oh my gosh, really!"

Chara groaned, and Frisk knew it was because he was not eager to listen to Frisk and Papyrus discuss puzzles till they reached their destination. Frisk, on the other hand, was finally glad to talk to someone who had the same passion as she.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 13_**

"I agree," Frisk, still hanging like a sack of potatoes over Papyrus's shoulder, said. "Junior Jumble is _so_ much harder than crosswords."

"Thank you!" Papyrus exclaimed. By this point, Frisk had gotten used to his constant shouting. It was possible his loud voice deafened her a little, but at least her ears stopped ringing. "Almost everyone disagrees, but you, human, seem to have more understanding than all of them."

Frisk shrugged. "I guess we must be kindred spirits."

"Indeed," Papyrus said. "Who knew I would have so much in common with a human?!"

 _Who knew I would have so much in common with a Red?_ Suddenly recalling that they were not alone, Frisk looked at Chara to see what he was doing. He still trudged behind, and when he noticed Frisk looking at him, he sneered.

"So," he snarled, "you finally remember that I exist?"

Frisk wanted to snap at him but didn't. So far the only one who knew about Chara was herself, and she intended to keep it that way. To respond to the human, Frisk dramatically rolled her eyes and again looked at the snow beneath them.

"I have to go," she muttered, talking to Papyrus.

"Yes," Papyrus said, "you have to go see Undyne."

"No." Frisk's face burned. "I have to go. Bad."

Chara, understanding first, burst out laughing. Papyrus, however, still didn't get it.

"Yes, yes," he went on, "but Undyne isn't going anywhere. As bad as you need to see her, there is no reason to rush."

Groaning loudly, Frisk finally spat out, "I need to use the bathroom!"

"Then why didn't you say so?" At that, Papyrus dropped Frisk onto the ground. "Well? Don't just lie there. Go use the bathroom. I'll wait for you, human."

"I'm kind of tied up right now," Frisk said, using her abs to lift her legs up so Papyrus could see her bound ankles.

Without a word, Papyrus knelt down and untied the rope. He then, dragging her by the elbow, helped a wobbling Frisk to her feet. Blood again rushed to her legs. "You should have plenty of privacy over there," Papyrus pointed out, indicating an area thick of trees. Frisk frowned; Papyrus just showed her where she could run away without his noticing.

"Now would be a good time to bolt," Chara said as Frisk walked to where Papyrus suggested. "He won't realize you're gone until it's been so long he will feel the need to check on you."

Chara was right, but Frisk replied, "I'm not going to run."

"And why is that, Stripes? You don't want to betray his trust?"

"Actually, I don't." Frisk frowned even more. As much as she wanted to say she had a grand plan in mind that involved going with Papyrus, she didn't. "I feel safe around him," she muttered, not knowing she spoke aloud until Chara laughed.

"He's delivering you to the Captain of the Royal Guard. Just because he's not going to be the one to kill doesn't suddenly mean he's protecting you."

"I know." Frisk sighed. "I know, but I don't think I have the heart to just ditch him. If anything, he seems more misguided than evil."

"Being misguided is no excuse for bad behavior."

"Sounds like something someone told you once," Frisk said. "Now, if you don't mind . . ." She used her tied hands to signal that Chara needed to leave.

Rolling his eyes, Chara said as he turned to walk away, "Freedom has been handed to you on a silver platter, and you aren't seizing it. Why am I not surprised?"

After Frisk finished her business, she found Papyrus right where she left him. Hers being the only set of footprints she saw was proof enough that Papyrus really did trust her enough to not feel the need to invade her privacy. Either Papyrus truly knew she wouldn't run, or he was as incompetent as Chara made him out to be.

"Ready to go, human?" Papyrus asked.

"Yes," Frisk answered, "but may I walk this time? It feels good to use my legs again."

"If you wanted to walk, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I can't exactly walk with tied legs."

"Then you should have requested I untie them sooner. Silly human! I wouldn't have mind you walking instead of being carried." Papyrus pat her on the back. He slapped her so hard, Frisk nearly fell over. "Let's get going, human. We still got a long ways to go till we get to Ice Capital."

* * *

"No. No. _NO!_ " Irritated, Undyne threw the map she had scratched _X_ s on to the floor and slammed her fists onto the table. "Where is he?!" When Papyrus was still gone after she searched Snowdin, Undyne got the sense something was wrong. Her fear was confirmed when Sans turned up again and had no idea where Papyrus had gone.

"I'm just as worried as you are," Sans said as he entered the dining room, mug of lukewarm coffee in hand, "but is damaging my kitchen table really necessary?"

Undyne removed her fists to see two dents in Sans's and Papyrus's new table. They had recently replaced it after she broke their previous one in half the last time she visited. "I'll send you the gold to replace it," she said before slamming her fists into the wood again, creating two holes and a series of cracks in the now useless table.

"Would you also like to rip off one of the legs and beat the table with it?" Sans suggested, picking up the map and throwing it away.

Ignoring Sans, Undyne exclaimed, "How can he run off like this?! Papyrus, what were you thinking?" She dropped her face into her hands. "I don't understand how you can be so calm at a time like this," she told Sans.

"Papyrus is a big boy," Sans said. "He can take care of himself. You know just as well as I do how powerful he is."

"So you're not worried?"

"I'm losing my mind." Sans sat across from Undyne. "However, throwing things and breaking my newly bought table isn't going to help us figure out where he went."

"But where could he be?" Undyne questioned. "We looked everywhere, didn't we?"

 _Not everywhere._ Sans didn't want to believe it, and he would never dare breathe a word of it to Undyne, but Sans somehow knew that Papyrus had found Snowdin Two. If Papyrus was anywhere within Snowdin Forest, it was close to that isolated town very few in the kingdom knew existed.

He not only needed to figure out how he was going to get away from Undyne again, but he also needed to figure out how to keep Papyrus's mouth shut.

"This is all your fault!" Undyne snarled.

Sans raised his nonexistent eyebrows. "My fault?"

Stabbing an accusing finger at him, Undyne growled, "If you didn't vanish from your responsibilities and just met up with us to share information _like you were supposed to_ , Papyrus wouldn't have felt the need to run off on his own to find you. Had you simply done what you agreed to do, Papyrus would be here right now, and we might be closer to finding this rogue human. Keep in mind, this very same human is potentially extremely dangerous. Who knows what kind of trouble Papyrus could be in if he came across this human?!"

* * *

"Okay, but if I finish my crossword first," Frisk was saying, "we're going to read a story from one of the books in my pack. Deal?"

"Deal," Papyrus agreed, "but I don't know why you would want to read from some silly book when you can hear the ballads of the Great Papyrus." At this, Papyrus strummed on his ukulele, creating a sound so grating even Chara shuddered.

"Win this, Stripes," he ordered. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm counting on you."

 _Only because you know if Papyrus wins, I won't be taking off the locket,_ Frisk thought. _You could get on your knees and beg, but we both know there would be no mercy. If I have to suffer, so do you._

Taking the copy of the crossword Papyrus handed her, Frisk struggled to place it on her lap and hold the pen. Fuming with frustration, Frisk groaned when she dropped the pen while trying to write her name on the corner of the paper.

"What's wrong?" Papyrus asked, writing his name in big, loopy letters.

"I'm kind of at a disadvantage here," Frisk answered, lifting up her arms. She was still bound at the wrists.

"No worries." Papyrus didn't hesitate to reach forward and untie her arms. "Better?"

Frisk couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Not only were her feet unbound now, but Papyrus just untied her hands. The skeleton monster had just willingly undid everything that would have made keeping her captive easier.

"Should you really be giving me no restraints?" Frisk questioned before she knew she was opening her mouth.

Missing Frisk's meaning, Papyrus replied, "The Great Papyrus wins fair and square. No opponent of mine will be competing against me with a handicap."

After Papyrus gave the signal for them to start, Frisk focused on completing the crossword. Chara, to his credit, left her alone to concentrate. Engrossed in the puzzle, Frisk couldn't help but shout when she found the last word minutes later. "Finished!"

"Thank the angel," Chara muttered.

"What?! Impossible!" Papyrus snatched the paper as Frisk handed it to him, looked it over, and handed it back, deflated. "I, the Great Papyrus, have lost," he declared, defeated but not begrudgingly so.

Leaning forward, Frisk studied his sheet. "You were really close," she told him. "You just couldn't find 'mermaid.' That one was hard. Had you found that one first, you would have beat me."

"Well, no sense agonizing over my humiliating loss." Papyrus folded his crossword and put it away. "I am a skeleton of my word. Read one of your tales. Just, uh, make it a happy one."

"No problem." Frisk smiled as she pulled the book of fairytales from her pack. Papyrus made no move to tie her hands together again, and she would enjoy the motion while she could.

Since she had yet to read the collection, Frisk wasn't sure which story was a "happy one." Scanning titles and opening paragraphs, Frisk settled on one titled "The Three Heroes." Frisk took a deep breath and began to read aloud.

 _"_ _Once upon a time, there were three heroes. A monster, a human, and a prince of darkness."_

A sharp inhale caused Frisk to look up from the book. Papyrus seemed invested, but Chara's expression was one she hadn't seen before. It was as Chara blinked that Frisk understood what that look was. Recognition. Chara knew this fairytale.

Clearing her throat, Frisk continued reading.

 _"_ _The monster knew of other worlds._

 _"_ _The human traveled through them._

 _"_ _The prince had the power to either erase the world or save it, but only once._

 _"_ _As with every grand tale,"_ Frisk continued, _"there is a prophecy. When an evil arises to conquer the other worlds, the balance will be disrupted. It is during this time of imbalance that the known world will begin to crumble as time loses its meaning. Darkness will consume all, and the world will endure a fate worse than never existing at all._

 _"_ _Only the three heroes can stop this evil and save the worlds. Only they had the power, when combined, to maintain balance in this delicate system. There was only one problem: None of the heroes trusted each other, and the darkness was rapidly approaching."_

"This doesn't sound like a very happy story."

"It doesn't," Frisk agreed, looking at Papyrus, who sat across from her and hugged himself as if he was scared but didn't want to admit it. She shot a look at Chara before wondering aloud, "I wonder if it has a happy ending."

Chara understood her unasked question. "Yes," he said, "but only if you change how you define 'happy ending.'"


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

"I honestly cannot believe you," Chara was saying, leading Frisk to think to herself how Chara talked more than anyone she knew. "First you ignore every opportunity presented to you on a silver platter to run, and now you're basically walking towards your execution. I would say you went willingly like a lamb to the slaughter, but I don't think even the lamb was as dumb as you."

If Frisk was honest with herself, Chara did have a point. Papyrus didn't tie Frisk up again, allowing the human to walk behind him on her own with hands unbound. There was nothing stopping Frisk from running or attacking Papyrus from behind.

Of course, Frisk wasn't interested in being honest with herself.

Instead, she wanted to try something more on the pacifist side. The plan, Frisk knew, would sound stupid if she said it aloud, but she had to try. If any Red would be somewhat receptive to her, it would be Papyrus.

"So, Papyrus," Frisk said slowly and cautiously. She noticed Chara raise an eyebrow, listening to what she was about to say.

"Yes, human?" Papyrus questioned, turning his head slightly to look at her. He and Frisk walked side-by-side; if he thought it was strange for captor and captee to walk casually alongside each other, he didn't lead on.

"I was thinking . . . ," Frisk pressed her lips together, "do you want to be friends?"

"Friends?" Papyrus then repeated louder, "Friends?! Why, human, I would love to be-" Stopping himself, Papyrus shook his head and said, "I-I cannot be friends with you, human!"

Chara, the frustrating creature he was, began crackling. "Getting rejected by him of all people must really sting," he snickered. "Stripes, why would _anyone_ be friends with you?"

Frisk glared at Chara before asking Papyrus, "Why not?"

"I can't."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't."

With a sigh, Papyrus answered, "I don't do long-distance relationships."

There was no stopping Frisk's eyebrows from shooting up her forehead. "What do you mean, Papyrus?"

"I mean it would be hard to be friends with you while you're in the capital."

"I'm afraid to say I'm a little confused. . . ."

"Once I take you to Undyne," Papyrus began, "you'll be sent away to the king. It would be very hard to be friends with someone who lives so far away, wouldn't it?"

"Hard, but not impossible," Frisk replied, "but I don't see why I have to be, uh, 'sent away' in the first place. Why can't I just stay here?"

Papyrus seemed to consider it. "You know, that is a very valid point." He thought some more. "I got it! Instead of sending you to the capital, I can convince Undyne to keep you here. That way you get to stay, and I get to become a royal guardsman again. Everyone wins! Oh, the ideas of the Great Papyrus."

"'Sent away'?" Chara muttered while Papyrus went on about how great his ideas were. "Is he joking, or does he really not know what's going on?"

 _I'm willing to bet on the second one,_ Frisk thought. She couldn't bring herself to believe someone as innocent as Papyrus really knew the true reason why the Reds were so eager to capture a human.

* * *

It was as if the whole world gave way beneath Undyne's feet. Dogamy and Dogaressa, dead. Killed in the line of duty. The only suspect: the human.

Undyne gently – far, far too gently – set down her cell phone. Tabitha phoned her to give the news. An anonymous monster found the dog couple's ashes and had called to have them collected. The funeral would be at the end of the week. As for the current location of the murderer: unknown.

The location wouldn't be unknown for long if Undyne had anything to do about it.

"Please tell me that you have found Papyrus," Undyne told Sans when he walked into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Sans asked, posture unnaturally rigid for someone as lax as him.

"The human that has somehow found its way into the Underground is confirmed dangerous," Undyne answered. "It killed Dogamy and Dogaressa. If it finds Papyrus . . ." Now Undyne picked up her cell and flung it across the room. The device shattered and fell apart in a dozen pieces. "If that measly human so much as dares to hurt Papyrus, I will personally rip it apart limb from limb!"

Dumbstruck, Sans stood speechless. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he uttered no sound. Perhaps he was just as shocked as Undyne. Perhaps he didn't want to think about what could happen to his brother yet the thoughts kept coming anyway. Perhaps a lot of things. Undyne had always found Sans a little hard to read even though he seemed to wear his thoughts on his sleeves.

"Why didn't you do what you were supposed to do?" Undyne asked quietly. At Sans's confusion, she explained, "All you had to freaking do was meet us at Grillby's. Why was that so hard, Sans? Had you simply showed up, Papyrus wouldn't have ran off looking for you. If he didn't do that, neither of us would be worrying what that human would do to him. I swear, Sans," at this, Undyne allowed her blue spears to appear, surrounding the stunned Sans, "if anything – _anything at all_ – happens to Papyrus, I will make you regret the day you were born."

Recomposing himself, Sans used a single finger to lower the tip of one of the magical weapons. "Don't you think I'm already worried what would happen if he and the human met?" His tone grew louder. "Don't you think I care about him as much as you do?" In preparation for his last question, Sans smiled as his eye glowed red. "Don't you think I already regret the day I was born?"

Before Undyne could even think to react, Sans destroyed her spears and used his telekinesis to throw her across the room and against the wall. Undyne sat up, regaining the breath knocked from her lungs. She looked in time to see Sans hurling furniture her way. It was by seconds alone she recovered enough to cut the tables and chairs in half with a spear she materialized in her hand.

Spears shot from beneath Sans's feet, but he teleported before they could do him harm. In retaliation, he hurled femurs at her. Undyne sliced each bone into pieces. Again Sans used his telekinesis to toss Undyne, but she dug her spear into the wooden floors, the friction slowing her down as the tip of the spear tore through the flooring.

"Enough games!" Undyne exclaimed. A green aura outlined Sans, keeping him in place. Powerless to go anywhere while Undyne used her green attack on him, Sans had to summon a bone to stop Undyne's arrows from stabbing him in the front, back, and sides. From where he stood, Sans threw Undyne towards the ceiling. While she was up there, Undyne used her spear cut the fan at its base.

Undyne's magic vanished in time for Sans to teleport out of the way of the ceiling fan dropping onto him. This distraction caused him to lose focus on Undyne, who fell towards the ground but summersaulted to land softly on the balls of her feet. Taking no time to recover, Undyne turned Sans green again and surrounded him with spears and arrows, all the weapons pointing at him.

"Let's face it, Sans," Undyne began, watching the skeleton monster breathe heavily while she had yet to break a sweat, "you know you can't win against me. I'm better trained than you, better skilled than you, and overall stronger than you."

"But why are we fighting?" Sans asked, glaring at Undyne. "It doesn't change that Papyrus is out there, potentially with the human."

"No," Undyne answered, "but I did want to give you a taste of the mercy you shall not receive if things don't end well for your brother." At that, Undyne waved her weapons away and released Sans from her magic. "We're friends because of Papyrus, not because you and I particularly like each other. If anything happens to Papyrus and I have any reason to blame you, don't think I won't hesitate to kill you."

Before Sans could respond, there was a knock on the door.

* * *

Frisk could not stop her jaw from dropping in wonder as she beheld Ice Capital. True to its name, the buildings and skyscrapers were all made of ice. In some angles, the light reflected off the buildings, creating beautiful rainbows in the sky.

The streets – also made with ice, and also as beautiful – where filled with monsters. Most greeted Papyrus, and some even greeted Frisk. All were dressed in red, but they didn't look at Frisk more than twice. As with the residents of Snowdin Two, these monsters didn't even know that Frisk was human. As far as they were aware, she was simply a mostly hairless monster.

"This place has really changed," Chara muttered so quietly that when Frisk looked at him and he raised his eyebrows in surprise, she knew he didn't mean for her to hear. "I have visited Ice Capital many times when I was alive," he explained, answering Frisk's unasked question. "I was once good friends with a girl who lived here, and we visited each other often."

Frisk wanted to hear more. She tried to tell Chara that with her eyes, but he was done speaking. The way Chara frowned, she knew he wasn't pleased with himself for sharing so much with her.

It took all Frisk had to not bite her lip. Nothing about her and Chara's relationship made sense. Chara abused her, yet she missed him whenever they were apart. There were times when Frisk would be happy to never see him again, but then Chara would tell her something personal, and she found herself wanting to know more about him. Chara was a puzzle Frisk wanted desperately to solve, and she knew this want, if left unchecked, would be the end of her.

"Here it is!" Papyrus exclaimed, pulling Frisk back to reality. "My humble home."

They stood before, true to Papyrus's words, a humble log cabin a decent distance away from the ice buildings. A reef hung on the door, and smoke rose from the chimney. Also, a full-on war seemed to come from the inside. There were sounds of crashing and cursing. Frisk flinched when what sounded like something heavy falling to the floor echoed outside the cabin walls.

"Sounds to me that Sans and Undyne are here!" Papyrus sounded so happy at the thought while color drained from Frisk's face. Whom she feared more to see, Sans or Undyne, Frisk didn't know. "Shall we make them aware of our presence?"

"I think we should-" Frisk began only to learn Papyrus probably didn't plan to hear her answer the question.

He knocked on the door, and Frisk's heart melted out from her ribs and onto the snow.

When a blue-scaled, red-headed monster with pointed teeth answered the door, a growl reverberating in her throat, Frisk's knees nearly gave out from under her.


	15. Chapter 15

**_Chapter_ _15_**

"You should have run when you had the chance, Stripes," Chara said, not that Frisk needed him to tell her that.

The fish monster nearly smiled at the sight of Papyrus but caught herself in time. Instead she growled, "Where the hell where you?!"

"Great to see you too, Undyne!" Papyrus's ever perky self replied. He indicated Frisk. "I captured this human for you!"

The monster, Undyne, stared at Frisk. The more she understood, the more Undyne's face dropped. "You brought this human here?"

"Exactly!" Papyrus sounded proud of himself.

A wicked grin then grew across Undyne's face. Frisk felt uneasy. "Perfect."

Before either Frisk or Papyrus could respond, the ground below Frisk glowed. Having learned her lesson already from Papyrus, Frisk knew to jump back before the spear could pierce through her. When Frisk looked at Undyne again, the monster had a large, blue spear in hand.

It was at this moment Frisk was grateful that Papyrus had untied both her wrists and ankles. With full mobility, nothing held Frisk back as she dodged the spear Undyne hurled at her and ran out of the path of the ones shooting from out of the ground. Frisk had jumped off the front porch and stood in the middle of the yard, but there was still the rest of Ice Capital to flee.

Yet this freedom came to a crashing end. When Frisk found herself unable to move her feet, she looked at her arms to see them glowing green. It took a second to figure out what was happening. Whereas Papyrus's special attack was manipulating gravity, Undyne's was preventing her opponents from fleeing.

"You're not getting away that easily, punk," Undyne snarled, slowly approaching Frisk, spear in hand, as if she savored the fear Frisk poured out as she waited for Undyne to stand right in front of her. "I'm going to make sure your death is a painful, dragged out one." The way she said that made it seem as if Undyne spoke of simmering spaghetti sauce.

"Undyne," Papyrus began, "what are you doing? Don't you think this is a bit extreme?"

A laugh shot out of Undyne. Frisk couldn't tell if the laugh was humorless or not. "I don't think so," Undyne replied. "Not for someone who murdered two of my finest soldiers."

Frisk's heart leapt to her throat. _She knows. Now I'm going to get exactly what I deserve._

"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Papyrus argued. "I fought this human, and the human didn't fight back. I don't think Frisk could kill anyone."

" _Frisk?!_ " Undyne snarled. "Don't tell me you actually named the human. Papyrus, you know if you name things you're only going to end up getting attached."

"Why isn't _he_ helping?" Chara asked, dragging Frisk's attention away from the scary monster and Papyrus.

Looking where Chara did, Frisk saw Sans standing in the doorway. While everyone else moved to the front lawn, Sans was technically still in the house. He watched the scene intently, but he made no move to interfere.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Frisk called out. Sans went rigid. Papyrus and Undyne stopped arguing. "Sans," Frisk tried desperately, "I need your help right now. Why are you not doing anything?"

"So it knows him," Undyne thought aloud. She narrowed her eye and glared at Sans. "A human and a human sympathizer. My, my, King Asgore is going to be so pleased when I bring him both the soul of a human and the head of a traitor."

"Undyne," Papyrus, either the only calm one in the situation or oblivious to it altogether, said, "I don't know what this is all about. Maybe if we talked this out-"

"There's nothing to talk out!" Undyne snapped before she cringed, as if she didn't like yelling at Papyrus. Taking a deep breath, she quickly explained, "This human killed Dogamy and Dogaressa. Now I'm going to kill it and take its soul to the Capital. And then," she shot Sans a look, "I'm having your brother imprisoned for treason."

"This is all a misunderstanding," Papyrus insisted. "We're all friends here."

"That human is no friend."

"The human is my friend."

Papyrus's words had Undyne at a loss for her own. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. With a grunt, Undyne turned to Frisk. "I don't know what mind games you're playing," she said, "but I will put an end to them soon enough." Then she turned to Sans, "Last chance, bonehead!" she shouted. "Prove to me you're not a traitor. Kill the human."

"I thought you wanted the honors," Sans replied, speaking for the first time since Papyrus knocked on the door.

"I'm willing to give them to you in exchange for assurance you are no criminal to the crown." Undyne pointed at Frisk. "Finish it."

"Undyne, not everything has to be solved with viole-" Papyrus was cut off when spears emerged from the ground and trapped him in a makeshift cell.

"Stay out of this," Undyne said. "I've been worried sick for you. Let me handle this, and then we can talk. Okay, Papyrus?"

"I would prefer we talk after you decide not to kill my friend," Papyrus said, gripping the spears like bars.

"That human is no friend of yours," Undyne said. To Sans, "What are you waiting for? Kill it so I can leave this frozen over hell of a city!"

At first Frisk thought Sans would do something to help her. Distract Undyne, insists on another plan, take her and run – but as he grew closer, Frisk knew Sans had no such intentions. Sans really was going to kill her.

"Sorry, kid," Sans said loud enough for only Frisk to hear once he had gotten close enough, "but you put me in a tight situation. You should have stayed in Snowdin Two." Sans shook his head. "No hard feelings?"

"I knew he couldn't be trusted," Chara said. He stood beside Frisk, as he had done since Frisk lost her mobility. Although Frisk had spent the past few days pretending that Chara wasn't there, she looked at him now. It didn't matter anymore if the monsters notice her seeing something they couldn't.

As usual, Chara didn't show much emotion. He could have been either concerned or amused that Frisk was about to be killed by the only person she trusted in the whole Underground, and Frisk wouldn't know the difference. Yet despite his obvious hatred for her, Chara had truly been giving Frisk good survival advice that, had Frisk listened, would have kept her from this situation. He most probably gave the advice knowing Frisk would do the exact opposite, but it didn't change what Frisk now knew: Chara did look out for her in his own way despite being untrustworthy, but Sans would throw away the trust he earned from Frisk to save his own bones.

When a giant skull shaped something like a ram appeared in front of Frisk and began charging a kind of ball of light in front of her, Frisk knew Sans wasn't putting on a show as some sort of trick on Undyne. He really would kill her. Whatever motived him to keep her safe before didn't matter now.

 _"_ _I'll keep an eye socket out for ya, but I won't promise to lend a hand if you get yourself into big trouble."_

Sans had said that to her the day they met. Even at the beginning, she was running on borrowed mercy. Now Frisk knew why the people of Snowdin Two were so wary of Sans – there was no reason to believe Sans had any loyalties besides whatever served his best interest. Because Frisk wanted to believe someone cared about her, she wholeheartedly trusted Sans. So much so that she dismissed everything Chara said when she should have at least considered the possibility Chara had spoken some sense.

"Chara," Frisk said, trusting but not caring the other monsters couldn't hear her above the charging skull, "you were right. I should have listened to you." She looked at the human as she talked to him, so she saw the surprise that lit up his usually stoic face.

"I didn't think you would ever say I was right about anything," Chara snorted after he had recovered. When he grinned, it lacked some of his usual maliciousness. "Well, at least you get to have a redo, huh, Stripes?"

There was no time to respond. The cannon blasted, and Frisk braced herself for yet another death.

Except none came.

Papyrus, who must have escaped from Undyne's prison while Frisk wasn't paying attention, stood before her and used a flat bone to shield Frisk and himself from the blast. When the attack ended, Papyrus used the opportunity to use his blue attack to send Sans hurling across the yard, into the house, and crashing into the wall. Undyne shouted at Papyrus and looked as if she wanted to attack, but he didn't give her a chance. Papyrus flipped gravity on Undyne as he did with Frisk. Undyne suffered from being suddenly tossed upside down, and the trick caused her to lose focus, freeing Frisk from the green attack.

Wasting no time, Papyrus grabbed Frisk by the arm, and the scene vanished. In the blink of an eye, the world reappeared. The wooden cottages and smell of smoke were achingly familiar.

"How . . . ?" Frisk began, unsure how to finish the question. She stumbled, unbalanced on her feet.

"Teleportation," Papyrus replied, knowing what Frisk meant, as he reached out to hold her upright.

"Wait," Frisk began when she recovered her footing, "you could teleport this whole time, yet instead of teleporting me to Undyne, you had us walk?"

"Teleportation is for lazy people, like my brother. Only the really dedicated walk everywhere. Well, uh, except in the case of emergencies, like now."

"I sort of agree with that logic," Chara said, "but at the same time, I don't."

Frisk shook her head, trying to organize and make sense of her buzzing, whirling thoughts. "Never mind that. You saved me from Undyne. You'll be labeled as a traitor now. The Reds are going to come after you. Why did you do that?"

"That's just what friends do." Papyrus shrugged. "Even if I did rejoin the royal guard and had many admirers, how many of them would be puzzle lovers who like me as genuinely as you do?"

For the first time since Toriel, Frisk felt her heart melt under the warmth inside her chest. Before she knew what she was doing, Frisk threw herself at Papyrus and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tears, hot and overflowing, streamed down her cheeks. "Thank you," she said over the thick lump in her throat.

"Now, now, human," Papyrus said, awkwardly hugging her back, "no need to get all sappy. Though I suppose one can't help but cry with joy at being friends with the Great Papyrus."

Laughing, Frisk pulled away. She wiped her eyes. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Ah, well, I . . . uh." Papyrus scratched the back of his head. "I didn't, um, plan that far."

Frisk slowly turned to look at the town behind her. Papyrus already knew about Snowdin Two, and there was nothing she could do to make him unknow it. There was no way to expect how accepting the villagers would be of Papyrus if they barely stood Sans, but after risking everything he had to save Frisk, Papyrus was no doubt worthy of some small chance.

"Want to meet my other friends?" Frisk tried. "I'm sure they will want to be your friends, too."


	16. Chapter 16

**_Chapter 16_**

"I can't believe Papyrus would do such a thing." First Undyne shouted the comment over and over. Then she growled it with every breath. Now she muttered it every few minutes or so.

Sans, all the while, did nothing but drink. Whenever he finished his glass, he would pick up the bottle and pour the liquid to the brim. This time only a few drops came out, so Sans threw the bottle over his shoulder and didn't react as the glass shattered into dozens of pieces. The house was an absolute mess anyway. A broken bottle or few wouldn't make a difference.

"Better believe it because that's exactly what happened," Sans said, as he did every time Undyne made her statement for the hundredth time.

Baring her teeth, Undyne mixed things up by abruptly standing to her feet and slamming her fist onto the remaining half of the table. "That human has Papyrus brainwashed!"

"That's your conclusion?" Sans rolled his eyes. "You saw that human with your own eye. Do you really expect that small fry to be capable of brainwashing?"

"Shut the hell up, traitor," Undyne snarled. "What have you been doing to the human to make it think it can ask you for help? I should be taking you to King Asgore right this moment!"

Sans sighed. "I don't know where Papyrus has taken the human, but I do know this: The human has plans to leave the Underground."

This was news to Undyne. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "So the human is practically delivering itself to Asgore then?"

"All that's missing is the gift wrap." Sans downed the little liquid left. "If there's one thing you can count on with humans, it's their pesky determination. Sooner or later the human is going to come out of hiding to journey towards the barrier. All you need to guarantee success is to wait for it on the path."

Undyne hummed, considering Sans's words. "I honestly can't tell if you're giving me legit advice or giving me misleading information."

As he stood from the bar to retrieve another bottle, Sans said, "I guess that's your problem, huh?"

* * *

For not wanting anything to do with Sans, the monsters of Snowdin Two were incredibly accepting of the skeleton monster's twin brother. Not that they weren't hesitant at first, but once they saw Papyrus with Frisk and noted how Papyrus was practically harmless, they were delighted to welcome their old neighbor back into the circle. When Papyrus asked Beatrix to make a white and blue version of his outfit – from a costume party a few years back, he told them – most everyone let go of any remaining suspicions they had.

"I have been wondering," Frisk told Alice as they watched from the kitchen as Beatrix took Papyrus's measurements. "What do red and blue signify?"

"Red is worn by monsters who want to paint the world with human blood." Alice crossed her arms over her body and shuddered.

"Sound like my kind of people," Chara said from across the room. Frisk cast a quick glance his way to see the boy studying the paintings on the walls. She couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"And the Blues?" Frisk asked.

"Monsters who wear blue wear it to symbolize their desire to see the sky one day, without it coming at the cost of shed human blood," Alice answered. "After the death of the princes, the kingdom was divided. Reds are those who remain loyal to the king and his desire to wage war on humanity once we escape. Blues follow the ideals of our exiled queen, who did not blame humanity for our situation and believed we should desire peace with them and treat them as friends."

"I agree with the king," Chara called from another room. What he was doing now, Frisk didn't know. "Humans are awful."

Before Frisk could do anything – reply to Alice or roll her eyes at Chara, she didn't know which – Papyrus laughed and exclaimed, "That tickles!"

Frisk smiled a sad smile. "I'm going to miss him, too," she said.

"What are you saying, Frisk?" Alice asked. "Don't tell me you still plan on going to the surface."

"What choice do I have?" is how Frisk chose to answer. "Undyne knows I'm in the Underground. She's not going to give up looking for me. If I stay here, you and your town will be in grave danger."

Alice shook her head. "There has to be another way."

"If there is, tell me now." Frisk chewed her lower lip. "Time is of the essence here. If we can't figure something out now, then it's better for everyone if I leave soon."

"If Undyne doesn't find you here, she will definitely find you out there."

"You're right, Alice," Frisk agreed. "That's why if it comes down to it, I'm going to fight Undyne."

* * *

"Is Stripes actually making a decision of her own free will?" Chara mocked as Frisk sorted through her pack for the third time, too anxious to find something else to do. "I didn't know she was capable of making her own choices."

Frisk looked up from her bag to glare at him. "You're insufferable," she commented.

Instead of replying, Chara merely shrugged and walked around the room. "So," he began, "are you going to kill her?"

"Who?"

"Undyne, stupid."

Chewing on her lower lip, Frisk said, "I can only hope things don't have to come down to that."

"And if they do?"

"I'll find another way."

"What if there is no other way?"

"I'll keep looking."

It was with a groan Chara said, "You know, Undyne could kill you literally hundreds of times, and you still wouldn't deem her worthy of the death penalty."

"The day resets every time I die," Frisk reminded Chara. "When the day starts over, I technically never died. I can't kill anyone over a crime they didn't technically commit."

"Technicalities." Chara tsked. "I say if you know for a fact someone is going to commit a crime, then it's as good as if they have already done it."

Not having an argument, Frisk returned to her pack. She pulled out the map Alice had given her and unfolded it. Waterfall, the next destination, was only a day's journey away. The journey to the Capital would still be a long ways off, but Frisk was eager for a change of scenery. As much as she loved Snowdin Two and its residents, Frisk would be happy if she never had to so much as look at snow ever again.

"What do you know about Waterfall?" Frisk asked when she noticed Chara was looking over her shoulder at the map.

"It's dark and there's a lot of water," Chara answered. "You might want to get over your hydrophobia if you insist on journeying through that area."

Frisk shivered. _Not more water._ She traced her fingers on alternative paths, but none were as short as Waterfall. There was also the big body of water she had to cross no matter which path she took. Waterfall, whether she liked it or not, would make the most sense.

"What is it with you and water?" Chara, to Frisk's surprise, sounded somewhat curious.

Not knowing if Chara truly cared or was planning some other way for her to die, Frisk spat, "The first time I died, I was nine. I drowned in the river in the Ruins. It was the scariest moment of my life, especially since I didn't know I was going to come back."

The memories rushed at Frisk all at once. Her shouts and cries. Water filling her lungs. The world fading to black. Toriel, her mother, having to find her child long after it was too late.

Frisk had to wipe her eyes before Chara could mock her for her tears.

"When I had you slip into the river that day," Chara began, "I must have helped you experience some post-traumatic stress."

"I should have thrown the locket into the river as soon as I could after the day reset," Frisk growled, only half-meaning it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't intend to sound insensitive."

Surprised, Frisk looked at Chara. Nothing about his composure implied he was dishonest. However, this was Chara; there was no way of knowing if the emotions he displayed, if any at all, were genuine or an act. She could not conclude if there was any sincerity to his apology.

 _I can't tell if he truly hates me or not._ Standing to her feet, Frisk approached Chara and began circling him. Although he very much was no different from a ghost, he still appeared solid as if alive, as if Frisk really could touch him until she tried and her fingers went through. Everything about him – every freckle, every scar, and every vein under his pale skin – was different from what Frisk had grown used to. No fangs. No claws. No horns. Perfectly, plainly human.

"Why are you studying me such?" Chara asked, arms crossed. It looked almost as if he felt the need to cover himself in front of her.

"I never got this close to you before," Frisk answered, hiding her amusement at Chara's body language. "I was too scared before, but now I know you can't hurt me."

"Am I really that fascinating?"

"I haven't seen another human before you in the eight years I lived here. The monsters are all so unique from each other, while you and I look the same. But not."

"'But not'?"

"You're a boy, and I'm a girl." Frisk shook her head. "Before you fell Underground, did you go to school? Did you play games with other human children? You remember how boys would group up and girls did the same? Boys with their boy games, and girls with their girl games. Boys and girls didn't always interact with each other, especially since their peers would tease them for doing so. Only now do I realize how sexist we can be as young children. It seems so silly now."

"You think my being the only other human here counts for something?" Chara questioned, a challenging look in his eyes.

"You're the only other one here who knows what it's like to be human in a monster world," Frisk replied. "Like it or not, that gives us more in common than we realize and more in common than we want to admit." When Chara didn't say anything to that, Frisk asked, "Do you hate me, Chara?"

"I hate all of humanity, Stripes," Chara answered, "and you, as a human, fit that criteria."

To that, Frisk had no response. Then, "How did you die?"

Sneering, Chara said, "Why don't you look through that book of yours?" Before Frisk had the chance to react, he added, "Don't pretend you didn't sneak out a book on the Dreemur royal family when you thought I wasn't looking."

"You won't tell me who you are!" Frisk exclaimed, then stopped talking to make sure no one would check on her. Quieter she said, "You didn't exactly leave me with a choice, you know."

"Funny, because I do not remember your asking." Chara smirked when he saw Frisk grit her teeth. "You really thought I wouldn't answer so it was better to not try?"

"Would you have answered me?"

"You know, Stripes, you amuse me," Chara said. "If it will shut you up for a while, I will tell you three things about me. If you keep pestering me after that, I won't tell you anything ever again. Well, except things that might get you killed. Do we have a deal?"

As she gave a stiff nod, Frisk replied, "Deal."

"The first thing is my cause of death," Chara began. "You see, I was executed by King Asgore himself."

Color drained from Frisk's face. She sat on the bed, eyes glued to Chara. "Executed?" she whispered.

"I deserved it, which leads to my second thing: I was executed for killing the Crown Prince."

Her heart hammered in her chest, pounded in her ears. Frisk couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. Chara's malicious behavior, Frisk convinced herself, was a result of being dead for so long with no place for his soul to go. Knowing some of who he was when alive became the very confirmation Frisk didn't desire that Chara truly was the vile personality in life he was in death.

"But there were two princes," Frisk muttered, her words strangled in her tight throat. "If you killed one, what happened to the other?"

"That leads us to my third and final thing about me." Chara didn't smirk. He didn't blink. Displaying absolutely no emotion on his demeanor, Chara simply said, "I am the other prince."


	17. Chapter 17

**_Chapter 17_**

 _"_ _I am the other prince."_

Frisk couldn't sleep that night. She could barely eat. All she could do was think about was what Chara had said.

 _"_ _I am the other prince."_

Pieces Frisk didn't know she had began clicking into place. Chara was the other prince. Toriel was Chara's mother.

If Chara was a prince, then King Asgore was his father. If Toriel was Chara's mother, then Toriel must have once been the queen.

Toriel once said she lived in exile. Now that Frisk knew, she tried to see the monster from the angle. Her mother, an exiled queen.

Wanting to keep her word, Frisk asked no questions nor said anything in response to all Chara had revealed to her. If he was surprised she kept her thoughts to herself, he didn't show it. Not that such was new; he hardly showed any emotion.

It had been two days since that night. Snowdin Road was coming to its end. Undyne would likely be in Waterfall, and it was there Frisk would confront her. She would keep trying to overcome the monster who craved her blood, even if it killed Frisk again and again and again.

"You're awfully quiet," Chara pointed out. Frisk hadn't spoken since they set off that morning. There was nothing she wanted to say that wouldn't break her promise.

 _"_ _I am the other prince."_

"Nothing to talk about," she simply replied. Chara said nothing else.

Eventually, the snow disappeared little by little. The world around them grew darker and darker. Little gems sparkled above like stars in the sky. Frisk sucked in a breath. She had forgotten all about stars until this moment.

Chara must have had a similar feeling. He looked above as well, studying the "sky" just as intently. For the first time, it seemed Chara was struck speechless.

"I think this would be a good place to rest," Frisk decided aloud.

Finding a small corner in the cavern, Frisk wrapped up in her blanket and lied down. She didn't sleep for hours. Instead she stared at the gems and tried to find make believe constellations in them. Chara sat a few feet from her, and he seemed to be doing the same.

It was the most peaceful the two had ever been together.

* * *

Frisk had forgotten how many times she had lived through this afternoon. At first, she tried to keep count, but she lost her place after twenty. _Or was it thirty?_ She didn't know anymore, and neither did Chara. All they did know was they could now recite Undyne's lines by heart.

It was the same every time. Frisk and Chara would enter an area with flower bridges. After crossing the river, something that scared Frisk no matter how many times she and Chara walked across the flowers safely, a blue spear would fall from the sky and stop them where they were. Looking from where the spear had fallen revealed a monster in armor, grinning wickedly at the human.

Undyne's armor was not like the ones from storybooks and fairytales. A legging-like material hugged her body from her neck to her wrists to her ankles, and previous fights had proven the clothing to be stronger than any metal Frisk could think of. Undyne wore blood red metallic gloves and boots that ran up to her elbows and knees, respectively. Her chest plate, shaped like a heart, covered up to her collarbone and down to her hips. The skort she wore was made up of red and white metal leaves. It may not have been the armor Frisk anticipated, but it was still a fashionable armor that did its job.

Then Undyne would give her speech, the very one Frisk mouthed along with her right then.

"Seven. Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god. Six. That's how many we have collected thus far. Understand? Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed. First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far . . . I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people. It all started, long ago . . .

"No, you know what? SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL THAT STORY WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!? NGAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YOU! You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Alphys's history books made me think humans were cool . . . with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen. BUT YOU? You're just a coward!

"And let's not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes-shtick! 'Oooh! I'm making such a difference by hugging random strangers!' You know what would be more valuable to everyone? IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right, human! Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose! Now, human! Let's end this, right here, right now. I'll show you how determined monsters can be! Step forward when you're ready!"

"She really likes to talk," Chara muttered the first time this happened. Now Frisk recalled that every time they went through this.

Determination leaking through her like sweat from pores, Frisk reached out and picked the spear up. What happened next was as good as muscle memory. Put up the spear horizontally to block Undyne's first attack. Put it behind her as a shield to block a bullet coming from behind. Jump out of the way to avoid the spear coming from the ground.

Undyne had killed Frisk multiple times. Each time, Frisk learned. Not that she always did a good job of remembering her lessons.

"You tend to get stabbed in the sides," Chara told her as they again walked towards the fight with Undyne. They had taken this walk more than they could count. It possibly wouldn't have been an exaggeration at this point to think they did this at least a hundred times by now. "It's good you're watching your front and back, but your sides are important, too."

Frisk rolled her eyes. "Aren't you the one who told me to move to my left just for a spear to shoot from the ground and skewer me?"

"That's when your dying was still funny. Now I'm just ready to move forward."

"You make this sound like a game, Chara."

"If it is, Stripes, I'm cursed to watch you fight the same boss over and over because you can't get good and fight her like most people would at this point."

"I'm not resorting to violence," Frisk reminded him. "If I so much as hurt Undyne, that will be all the confirmation she needs to justify killing me."

"She believes she's justified already. After all, you did kill her dogs."

Frisk's heart skipped a beat. "Why did Sans have to find me? I should have just died right there in the snow so I could have had the chance to do it all over." At the mention of Sans's name, Frisk felt an aching in her chest. She missed believing they were friends, but it was for the better she knew how he really felt.

"That's how life should be," Chara said casually. "No retries. No do overs. You're left to deal with the consequences of your actions, good and bad. It's probably for the better you don't get the chance to redo everything you regret. That way, there's no opportunity for you to stop believing you're above reproach."

"I suppose you're right." Frisk frowned. "You can be really helpful when you're not being a real pain."

"I have to mix it up every now and again, Stripes. Keep you on your toes."

"Am I nothing more than a plaything for you?"

"If that's what you want to call it, then yes."

Not having a response, Frisk said nothing. After solving the flower bridge puzzle, she braced herself for the spear about to shoot from the sky and stop her in her tracks. Right on cue, it happened. Undyne gave her speech, then patiently waited for Frisk to move forward and pick up the weapon.

"You know," Chara said before Frisk moved an inch, "if you don't want to fight, there must be a way around."

"This is the quickest route," Frisk answered, "and I'll have to face Undyne eventually, so might as well get it out of the way now." She gave Chara no opportunity to respond before she took hold of the spear.

After having lost the human before, Undyne never hesitated to use her green attack on Frisk. With nowhere to go, Frisk had to rely on the spear Undyne gave her to protect her against the bullets. _At least,_ Frisk never failed to think, _she gave me a weapon to keep this a fair fight._

Occasionally Undyne would let go of her green attack, and Frisk was free to move about. "Why doesn't she just hold you in her green attack and have a spear shoot up from the ground?" Chara questioned after they learned Undyne's attacked patterns. "There's nothing you can do to protect yourself from that."

"She wants to kill me in a real fight. No advantages whatsoever," Frisk replied after thinking it through.

Little did Undyne know Frisk had the greatest advantage of all.

As with all the fights before, Frisk pleaded with Undyne. Frisk said she didn't want to hurt anyone. Insisted they could be friends. Undyne either scoffed at the idea or laughed altogether. Talking and pleading were useless.

Finally, after dodging spear after bullet after spear, the two stood across from each other, panting. Frisk had never made it this far before. This was new. From here on out, Frisk couldn't predict any of Undyne's actions.

"What the hell are humans made out of?!" Undyne exclaimed, wiping sweat from her brow.

Instead of replying, Frisk observed her surroundings. The exit didn't escape her notice. Despite all her talk to Alice of challenging Undyne, Frisk turned around and ran.

"Get back here, you little punk!" Undyne shouted and gave chase.

"What are you doing?" Chara asked, forced to run alongside Frisk.

"I don't know," Frisk answered, breathing heavily. "I'm making this up as I go."

"Incoming right!"

Not taking the time to decide whether or not she should trust Chara, Frisk moved to the left just in time to see a spear whiz past her head. Frisk cursed under her breath. "Any more attacks I need to be warned about?"

"No, not ye- Stop!"

Frisk halted just as a wall of spears came up from the ground. Thinking fast, Frisk prayed for safety as she jumped into the river. Her hydrophobia seized her, but only for a moment. Dying by the hand of Undyne scared her more. Despite her panicked state, Frisk didn't forget that she still didn't know how to swim.

She clung to a giant ice cube, held it down the current for a ways, then reached out for dry ground when it was arm's length away.

Taking hold of the edge, Frisk pulled herself out of the water. As Undyne got closer, she brought down the spear wall. Chara cried out, "Duck!"

Frisk did just that, but it wasn't a spear she was dodging.

Three femurs came from behind and nearly hit Undyne. She used her spear to destroy them before they hit her, but her movements were still slow. Undyne was tiring out, and now a new, fresh opponent entered the ring.

"I change my mind," Sans said, suddenly appearing in front of Frisk. "I think I am a traitor after all."

"You," Undyne snarled. "I'll rip you apart bone by bone!"

"You and what army?" Sans chuckled. "Does Undyne the Conqueror really think she can handle us?"

"Us?" Undyne questioned, and as if the word was a magic spell, more monsters began appearing from the shadows.

Beatrix and Peter moved to stand by Sans's side. A dozen or so fluffy white monsters stood around the edge, forming a circle. Papyrus teleporting to stand besides Sans. There were too many of them, and Undyne was already worn from fighting Frisk. She was surrounded, totally at their mercy.

"Frisk!"

"Alice!" Frisk pushed herself to her wobbly feet so she could hug her approaching friends. "And Mon!"

"Glad you ain't dead," was how Mon greeted Frisk while Alice hugged the human. Turning towards Undyne, Mon shouted, "Yo! If you want to hurt our friend, you'll have to go through each and every one of us first. Starting with me."

Mon stepped forward, and the other monsters let her pass through.

"What is she doing?" Frisk asked in a hushed whisper.

Speaking softly, Alice answered, "She just found out her hero isn't the person she thought she was. That would upset anyone, but Mon now thinks she has a bone to pick with Undyne because of it."

"Is it really a good idea to let her get so close to Undyne?"

"Undyne won't hurt her, or any of us. It's you she wants. However, she can't take you if we're here to be your shield."

"You are all making a big mistake," Undyne growled. "We need that human's soul to get to the surface! Do you really want to spend the rest of your lives trapped in this hell?"

"I'd rather live Underground than kill an innocent to see the sun," Mon spat. "You're no hero. You're the villain!"

Gritting her teeth, Undyne looked around. There was no way of knowing for certain if the monsters would actually fight her if she attacked. Even if she was well rested, there were still too many of them. No matter how hard she fought, no matter what strategy she used, she couldn't defeat them all. Not if she didn't want to kill every monster standing before her just to get to the human.

"You will regret this," Undyne snarled as she faded into the darkness.

For a while, nobody moved. It was as if everyone held their breaths, testing to see if Undyne had truly fled. Mon was the first to speak.

"Let's go home!" she declared.

The spell broken, the other monsters began moving. Chatter erupted from the crowd. It was hard to hear any single conversation, but Frisk picked up a couple comments.

"Need to prepare for what?" she asked Alice as Mon returned to their side.

Chara answered first. "The Reds are going to attack."

Unknowingly confirming Chara's guess, Alice said, "There is no way all of us left Snowdin Two entirely undetected. If King Asgore knows about us, it's only a matter of time before he orders our village to be found and destroyed again. We have to flee, just to be safe."

"But why did you leave the safety of your town?" Frisk hugged herself. "What were you all thinking?"

"We were thinking we weren't going to let you shoulder this on your own, human or monster," Mon said. Frisk wondered how Mon knew what Frisk was. "No more hiding for us. From here on out, we're going to fight for our freedom. We won't bow down to a tyrannical king anymore."

Before either Frisk or Alice could say anything to that, Papyrus ran up and gave Frisk a hug. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"So am I." Frisk smiled, but it fell when she saw Sans approach. Pretending she didn't see him, she took Papyrus by the wrist and dragged him along as she said, "Let's go. I could really use something to eat."


	18. Chapter 18

**_Chapter 18_**

Undyne did everything right. She didn't storm into the palace, rush into the throne room, and throw herself at the king's feet as she told him what happened. Instead she asked one of the servants to inform King Asgore of her return and to request his presence. Her armor still clung to her body; Undyne didn't rest after she returned to the palace, and she would not stop to change lest the king was ready to see her and she kept him waiting.

"King Asgore will see you now," Tabitha said, looking at Undyne with sad eyes and raised brows.

Undyne's first mistake was not taking the look for the warning it was.

As she entered the room, Undyne held her head high as she approached the king. Considering he never sat on his throne, it was a mystery why he kept it in the throne room. Perhaps so it wouldn't simply be called room, as Sans once joked. Papyrus suggested renaming it the flower room, since this was where King Asgore grew and tended to his flowers. The corners of Undyne's lips threatened to rise.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Undyne scolded herself. There was no reason for her to be remembering the twins in such a positive light. They were traitors, and she would not smile because of traitors.

King Asgore didn't speak, so Undyne took it as permission to start. Kneeling, she bowed her head and began, "I have found the human, O King. Female. Practically a child. Yet . . . I can't explain it. As we fought, she seemed to know my attacks before I did. Hitting her, although not impossible, was a challenge.

"More so, Sans and Papyrus have betrayed the crown. They helped the human escape. Them and more than a dozen other monsters. Monsters I thought to be dead. I suspect there are survivors from the Snowdin Massacre, and they are in hiding. My theory is the human is with them. If we can locate where these monsters hide, we can take an army and overturn the villagers with ease. After all, no mercy shall be shown to those who betray the crown and hide a human from the king."

The silence stretched on for so long that Undyne began to feel uncomfortable. Her aching neck begged for her to look up, but she would not disrespect her king by raising her head before she was spoken to. Curling her fist tighter and pressing her knuckles into the marble floors harder, Undyne gritted her teeth through the discomfort.

Finally, "I gave you one job and one job alone, Undyne."

She didn't know what she expected to see, but when Undyne looked up, her heart caught in her throat when she saw the rage building in King Asgore's eyes as he beheld her.

"Did I not say return with the human soul or to not return at all?" King Asgore demanded. "The information you provided was useful indeed, but it will not save you." Before Undyne could process what King Asgore said, he called for his guards.

The realization sinking in, Undyne did not fight the guards as they bound her wrists behind her. "My king?" She sounded weak. Helpless. A little lost.

"Your execution will be a great loss to the army," King Asgore said, demeanor completely unreadable. "However, you must be made an example. Any monster who sets out to capture the human and fails shall be met with your fate."

Undyne opened her mouth to beg, plead, anything, but at King Asgore's wave of a hand, she was dragged away. All the fight was drained from Undyne. She didn't know if there was reason to keep trying.

Alphys was dead.

Papyrus had turned into a traitor.

King Asgore was ready to have her executed to simply prove a point.

If anything, Undyne was dead weight as she was dragged to the dungeon. Her determination was as good as gone. As she sat alone in her cell for minutes, hours, days, Undyne tried with little success to figure out what she should do. There was no one left. There was nothing to fight for.

Maybe tomorrow she would find a reason to keep going, to keep living; but in that moment, she let herself feel the bad emotions as they dyed her in pain and loneliness.

For the first time in a long time, Undyne cried.

* * *

Frisk didn't realize she was chewing on the ends of her hair until Alice walked into the room and asked what Frisk was doing. _Looks like I need another haircut._ The nervous habit was the reason Frisk typically kept her hair shorter, especially since she couldn't seem to outgrow the habit no matter how hard she tried.

Pulling the hair from her mouth, Frisk answered, "I'm doing math problems."

"Even saying it out loud shows what a boring person you are," Chara said unenthusiastically from the corner of the room. He had nothing to do save stare out the window and watch as the monsters finished packing away their village.

After they returned to the village, Alice and Mon told Frisk what had happened to lead up to their coming to Frisk's aid. Sans arrived at Snowdin Two the night after Frisk had left. Needless to say, Beatrix and Alice both gave him a piece of their mind for what Frisk told them on how he acted when Papyrus brought her to Undyne. Sans stood there and took it. He didn't argue with them. Actually, he said they were right. Although he didn't go into detail why he agreed with them, few doubted him when he suggested they all go together to save Frisk. Undyne would easily attack a human, but there was no way she could handle an army, or something of the sort was Sans reasoning. Papyrus was all for it, and very few souls have it in them to refuse a cinnamon roll such as the goofy skeleton monster.

Of course, this meant revealing to the denizens that Frisk was human. Most were shocked, but few weren't too surprised. Either way, a friend was in danger, and nobody was going to leave a friend in need on her own. They risked their safety for Frisk's sake. It was what their queen would have wanted.

Alice leaned over and looked at the pile of scrap paper Frisk had in front of her. "Oh," she began, "you're calculating how much food we need to pack so nobody goes hungry. Smart."

"I'm just being practical," Frisk muttered. "Besides, I don't know what else to do. I need to feel useful somewhere."

Picking up one of the sheets, Alice said, "Well, you succeeded. This information is super helpful. You calculated more than we were thinking to bring."

"When are we leaving?" Frisk asked, changing the subject.

"Tomorrow morning, if all goes according to plan," Alice answered, setting the sheet back on the table. "We did build our village in an isolated part of the forest, so we're not expecting anyone to find us soon. If at all."

"Is everyone really as calm as they look?"

"I don't think so. Maybe some are, but deep down, I think most of us are terrified of losing our village again." When Frisk did nothing but exhale loudly, Alice suggested, "How about you help me and Mom pack the inn? You can show her your calculations too. Every pair of hands makes the difference."

Saying nothing, Frisk rose to her feet and followed Alice out the door and down the stairs. Chara, as usual, followed behind. He was so quiet Frisk wondered what he was thinking about.

"She's set for public execution tonight?" the alarmed voice of Beatrix asked as Frisk and Alice entered the kitchen.

"Considering she was back in the Capital a couple days before we came back to Snowdin Two," Sans, who stood across from Beatrix, answered, "I'm surprised she's still alive. I can only guess why King Asgore waited this long."

"What is going on?" Alice questioned, brows furrowed. "Who's still alive?"

Sans didn't look at Alice as he said, "Undyne. I just came back from sneaking around for word from the Capital. King Asgore is going to execute Undyne tonight for failure to capture Frisk."

Frisk's jaw dropped. "We can't let that happen!" she exclaimed. "We can't let Asgore kill her!"

"Do you need to be reminded she tried to kill you?" Although the question was directed towards Frisk, Sans still didn't look at her. Ever since the incident in Ice Capital, the two barely spoke. They didn't even look at each other.

"Or the reminder that she did kill you multiple times?" Chara added.

"She was only doing what she believed to be the right thing," Frisk argued. "We can't just let her die. I can't bear the idea of someone dying because of me."

"Someone else," Chara corrected. The only response Frisk gave him was a subtle nod of the head. Toriel still laid heavily on her conscious, as did the dogs. Frisk was not ready to add Undyne to the list.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sans challenged. "The Capital is days away, and the execution is tonight. You'll never make it in time."

"I can't," Frisk agreed, "but you and Papyrus can."

Now Sans looked at Frisk. "Excuse me, did I hear you correctly? You want _us_ to bail _Undyne_ out of prison?"

"You two are the only hope she has," Frisk whispered, looking at her toes. She shook her head. "I can't make the decision for you, but if anything I say makes a difference, I want her to be given a second chance."

"To kill you?"

"To live the life she chooses. Maybe she won't hesitate to jump back onto the same path, or . . . she might consider an alternative. Her hard heart could be softened. Mercy does tend to have that effect on people."

Sans thought about what she said, then, "Humans are strange creatures."

For a while, nobody said anything. Beatrix and Alice continued to stand where they were and say nothing. Sans and Frisk stared at each other, making eye contact for the first time since the incident. Chara whistled a tune Frisk didn't recognize. Then Sans spoke.

"I need to talk to Papyrus. He still doesn't know of King Asgore's plan to execute Undyne, but he won't hesitated to jump into a rescue mission."

A combination of disbelief and relief blossomed in Frisk's chest. "Thank you," she whispered, not knowing why she did.

Chuckling, Sans said, "You might want to hold off on the thanks until Papyrus and I come back with Undyne. Just because we save her doesn't mean she still won't hesitate to gut you like a fish."


	19. Chapter 19

**_Chapter 19_**

Packing away the last of the library books, Frisk blew her bangs out of her eyes. Sans and Papyrus had left half an hour ago, and the plan was to meet them at the rendezvous by sundown the next day. The only way Frisk could remain calm was to keep working so that she didn't have time or energy to worry.

"Thank you so much for your help," the librarian said as Frisk tucked the last of the boxes in the red wagon the monster would use to transport them.

"It's nothing," Frisk replied. "It would be such a shame to lose all these books."

"Nothing worse than lost knowledge," the librarian agreed. He said nothing else as Frisk bade him a farewell and walked out into the snow.

Snowdin Two was practically bare. No longer did it appear to be the warm, welcoming town Frisk had come to know. Anxiety made the air tense. Monsters were skittish. It was practically a house of cards waiting to collapse at any second.

"They found us sooner than we thought," Chara mused suddenly. Frisk froze and looked at him. He noticed her staring and pointed to the distance. "Over there."

It was just a small shadow, but Frisk knew what she was seeing. An army. Running over the mountains like blood flowing down and soaking into the snow, the Reds were coming.

The house of cards began to fall.

Thinking came later. Frisk bolted from the library and waved her arms. "The Reds are coming! The Reds are coming!"

Left and right, monsters saw that what Frisk said was true. Many began to panic. Few tried to maintain order. There was no waiting till morning to calmly leave anymore. Everyone had to get out now.

"We need to leave!" Frisk exclaimed as she burst through the inn entrance. Beatrix and Alice both cast Frisk surprised looks. "The Reds will be here any minute!" Frisk exclaimed in a breath.

Beatriz immediately jumped into action. "Alice, you and Frisk help me gather everyone. We have a few underground tunnels we designed just for this, and it's important we get kids and the elderly out first."

"'Out first'?" Frisk questioned even though she already knew what Beatrix meant.

"Not everyone is going to escape by the time the Reds arrive," Alice supplied.

"And those who are still going to be here need to be able to fight to protect those who can't," Chara added.

* * *

There was no coherent order to all that came next. Other than a few previously assigned caretakers, the only monsters to rush out of the village through the underground tunnels were the very young and the very old, each monster carrying a pack of the necessities they could not live without. It would only be a matter of time before the Reds came upon Snowdin Two.

"Frisk," Alice had tried more than once, "you need to get out of here and go with the others. It's you the Reds want. They won't hesitate to kill you."

"I'm not leaving until everyone else makes it out safely," Frisk retorted each time. "It's my fault the Reds are here. I should stay behind until everyone else can escape."

Alice never argued, but it was clear she disapproved of Frisk's decision.

With the Reds coming in quickly, it was chaotic getting everyone out in time. Beatrix, Peter, Doge, Alice, and Frisk all helped in the exodus of the young and old, and other monsters prepared to protect the borders. It had only been five minutes, but it felt more like five hours as everyone tried to get so much done before the Reds closed in.

"They shall be here any minute now," Chara told Frisk after she helped an elderly monster couple inside the library to use that underground tunnel.

"Any minute is a minute too soon." Frisk looked around, searching for anyone who might still need to flee. Many monsters would stay behind to fight off the Reds while those who already escaped traveled someplace safe. However, those many monsters were still too small an army for the oncoming Reds. The realization of how much ash would mix with the snow before all of this was over made Frisk's stomach twist.

"I think that's everyone," Alice breathed as she ran up to Frisk. "We should-"

"I can't find her!" Mon ran up to them, breathing heavily. Panic etched into her demeanor, Mon looked around frantically as she exclaimed, "My sister is missing! Our parents haven't seen her, and nobody's seen her enter the tunnels!"

"Mon, Mon, honey, relax," Alice tried to sooth. "There's a lot of disorder going on. Nobody's sure where anyone is right now. I'm sure Carla is safe in the tunnels."

Mon shook her head so hard Frisk was afraid it would roll off the monster's shoulders. "I don't think she's in the tunnels," Mon explained. "She wouldn't go without me. I just know she's running around here somewhere, trying to find me but can't."

Biting her lip, Alice racked her brain for something to tell Mon. They needed to leave, but Mon wouldn't so much as step inside unless she knew her sister was not in danger. Alice didn't know if there was any way to convince Mon to escape and simply trust her sister was already on her way to safety.

"We'll do a quick run through of the village," Frisk said, thinking fast. "If she's nowhere to be found, then Carla would have to already be in the tunnels. There's nowhere else she would be, right?"

Stiffly, Mon nodded. "Are we going to stick together or split up?"

"We need to stick together," Alice mused, "but we can cover more ground if we split up."

"I'll be the one to split off," Chara told Frisk. "You three need to stay close."

Frisk looked at him, hoping to convey in her subtle expression how grateful she was he would choose to help. Time was of the essence, and Chara was the only one who didn't have the limit. Besides, there was no way he and Frisk could ever lose each other.

"We should stick together," Frisk decided for the group, "but we need to go now."

Frantically, the three girls ran around in search of Carla. They asked every monster they could if they have seen the smaller, armless monster, but the only answer they received was a grim shake of the head. The Reds would be upon the village at any moment, and they would have to leave with or without Carla.

"Stripes!"

Frisk looked in the direction Chara called her. He pointed behind him.

"The river!" he shouted.

"We should check the river!" Frisk exclaimed, not stopping to consider if this was another of Chara's tricks to get her killed. If it was, Frisk would make sure that next time she found Carla _before_ the Reds came into sight.

Alice and Mon didn't question the suggestion. The three of them ran to the river, not truly realizing they were leaving the remaining safety of the village. This was a give everything or nothing at all situation.

"Carla!" Mon cried out as if in pain. "Carla!"

"Monika!" The girl's voice was laced with panic as it echoed from the distance. "Help me!"

"Carla! I'm coming!" Mon burst forward, leaving Alice and Frisk behind.

"Mon, wait!" Alice bolted after her friend, leaving Frisk to struggle to keep up, but she was not as fast a runner as her monster companions, and her friends quickly fell out of sight.

"It's a trap," Chara then said, close enough to Frisk now that he didn't have to shout.

Freezing in place, Frisk didn't care if anyone else heard her as she turned to Chara and shouted, "And you're just now telling me?!"

"I could only hear her cries before. I didn't see the Red until you were close enough for me to push my boundaries," Chara argued. "Think, Stripes. If you walk right over there, it's the end. Game over. What can you do now to make sure you don't have to relive this all over again?"

Biting her lip, Frisk thought fast. There wasn't much she could do. However, her options were better when she stopped thinking of plans that required only her.

"Chara," Frisk began, determined, "how would you like to make a new friend?"

* * *

Slowly but surely, Frisk approached the river. Mon and Alice were stuck in place, as if their feet were frozen to the ground. In front of them, to Frisk's horror, was Carla held at knifepoint by a strange cat-monster.

"So," the Red purred, "the human has arrived."

If Frisk was wearing the locket, she knew Chara would have made some sort of snide comment about the monster. " _This_ is the scary monster we have to deal with? Wait, never mind. Knowing you, Stripes, this monster is still too much for you to handle."

Frisk didn't know which was worse: Predicting what she was certain Chara would say, or missing that he wasn't around to add the commentary himself.

"Let Carla go," Frisk said, trying to sound brave but failing epically. It wasn't that the monster looked threatening for Frisk to quaver. It was her own lack of faith in herself keeping Frisk back.

The monster grinned, as if to say, "Or what?" There really was nothing terrifying about the monster. She actually was pretty cute. A small, thin pink cat with thick red hair decorated by an oversized pink bow, large green eyes with dark lashes, a red collar with a big silver bell, and a red dress and white petticoats that looked like something a doll would wear. The monster was only little taller than Carla, whom she had one arm wrapped around the younger monster's waist as the other held the knife under Carla's chin. Based on that height difference, Frisk assumed the monster was about as tall as she was.

"Come quietly," the monster ordered in a voice as smooth as silk, "and the child won't get hurt."

"Monika!" Carla exclaimed, and the cat-monster pressed her knife harder against Carla's throat.

"Don't!" Mon cried, fear stricken. Gone was the tough girl act. Mon looked ready to charge at the cat-monster to save her sister, and she probably would have if Alice wasn't holding her back by the collar of her turtleneck.

Seeing no other options, Frisk began to walk forward, past her friends. Alice called Frisk's name, but Frisk ignored her. She couldn't bear to see the worry undoubtedly etched into Alice's demeanor.

"Let the girl go," Frisk said when she was three feet away from the Red.

"No, no, no," the monster tsked, "that's not how this works. I'm the one with the leverage. I'm the one making threats." She waved the knife over Carla's throat for emphasis. Carla merely whimpered. "I think that means I get to be the one to make demands."

 _It's now or never._

Holding out the locket, Frisk said, "You're not the only one with leverage. Let the girl go, or I'll toss the locket into the river."

"You think I care about a measly locket? Ha!" The cat-monster showed all her pointy teeth. "Why should it concern me what you do with that child's toy?"

"It should concern you, Red," Frisk said, never sounding so strong in her sixteen years of life, "because my soul is trapped within it. Without my soul, I'm useless to you, right?"

The cat-monster furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. "Your soul is trapped in the necklace? How?"

"Through magic, of course."

"Impossible." The monster sneered. "Humans cannot use magic."

"That's debatable," Frisk said, unwavering. "It was human wizards who concealed you monsters Underground, and the wizards used magic. I am one of those wizards, and I used my magic to extract my soul and safekeep it within this locket." Meeting the cat-monster in the eyes, Frisk demanded, "Now let the kid go, or the locket will be thrown to the bottom of the freezing river. Don't test me either, cat. I don't need my soul as much as monsterkind does."

When the cat-monster hissed, Frisk knew she had her cornered. Maybe she was fooled, or maybe she wasn't, but the cat-monster clearly did not want to take any chances. With a flick of her tail, the monster removed her knife from Carla's throat and pushed the kid away.

"Carla!" Mon exclaimed, ready to rush towards her sister but still being held back by Alice.

"Monika!" The smaller, pink and purple monster ran towards her sister, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry! I should have went straight to the tunnels, but I was looking for you. I didn't mean to get caught."

The sisters embraced in what seemed to be an armless hug. Carla kept apologizing, and Mon kept insisting it was okay. No longer concerned about Carla, Alice locked her attention onto Frisk. Eye contact could only be maintained for a moment before Frisk had to look away. She could only hope Alice would use this opportunity to usher Mon and Carla to safety.

"A deal's a deal, human," the cat-monster snarled, paw outstretched as she approached Frisk.

Holding her ground, Frisk agreed, "So it is." With great reluctance, she dropped the locket into the monster's waiting palm.

"Where do you think you're going?" the monster asked when she noticed Frisk trying to retreat. "Soulless or not, you're still coming with me."

"That wasn't part of the deal," Frisk answered, but the bite was nearly gone.

"New condition," the cat replied, "come with me, and I'll let your friends go. Resist, and I'll kill them before your very eyes."

Frisk didn't so much as glimpse behind her to see how the others were responding to all of this. "Then may I have my locket back?" she tried. "I feel rather empty without my soul."

"Hmm, I don't think so." The monster smiled as she threw the chain of the locket over her head and let the red heart sit on her chest. "This should stay close to me, especially since I think it goes great with my dress."

The monster's ears perked up then, hearing something Frisk did not. Turning around, the monster hissed and demanded, "Who are you?" Silence, then she snarled, "What did you say to me?! Wait, get back here!" The cat-monster began running, chasing something the others could not see or hear. Yet Frisk knew what the monster saw and heard, even if Chara was currently as invisible to Frisk as he was to everyone else most of the time.

"Run, now," Frisk ordered her friends while the Red vanished into the woods.

"What about you?" Alice asked as Mon and Carla only stared at Frisk.

"I . . . I have to get my locket back," Frisk answered, wishing she didn't feel as empty as she did without Chara by her side.

"It's just a locket, Frisk," Alice whispered, stepping towards her.

"You don't understand, Alice." _How could you understand?_ Fighting back tears, Frisk said through the lump in her throat, "That locket was the last thing Mom ever gave me."

 _"_ _You two need each other now."_

Toriel wanted Frisk and Chara to stay together, although for what reason, Frisk didn't know. It wasn't as if Toriel knew how Frisk and Chara would interact. They barely got along, and moments in which they tolerated each other were rare. Yet Toriel insisted they needed each other, and in that moment, Frisk began to wonder if there was some truth to the comment after all.

 _"_ _Trust Chara. He will be there for you like no one before him has."_

In so many ways, Chara was the least trustworthy person Frisk had ever met. In other ways, Chara really had been there for her in incomparable ways. Not simply because they were forced to be together whenever Frisk wore the locket, but because in his own twisted, sick way, Chara did care. Worse yet, in her own nearly as venomous way, Frisk cared for him, too. It was a messed up relationship – toxic, even – but Frisk couldn't bear to give it up.

"Is this really worth your life?" Alice asked, oblivious to the mental struggle inside of Frisk's head. "Would your mom really be okay with you throwing your life away for some kid's toy?"

Flinching away from Alice's outstretching hand, Frisk answered, "I can't tell you why, but that 'kid's toy' really is this important."

Alice frowned and whispered, "Does it really have your soul in it?"

Not knowing exactly why she did, Frisk replied, "It does," before turning around and chasing after the cat-monster.

* * *

When Frisk came up with the plan for Chara and the Red to engage in a cat-and-mouse sort of chase, Chara didn't expect the Red to be an actual cat. Or this cat-monster, at least.

The plan was simple enough, but even then there was no guessing its success rate. Frisk would trick the Red into wearing the locket, the Red would as a result see Chara, and Chara would annoy the Red and make it chase after him into the woods so that the others could escape. The Red didn't know Chara couldn't go far from the locket, and the Red didn't know she couldn't touch Chara if she tried. She was engaged in a wild goose chase. The hilarious part was she didn't even realize it.

"When I get my hands on you," the cat-monster kept threatening. It was almost shocking to hear such gruesome, intense descriptions of what she would do to Chara come out of her pretty face, in a voice as sweet as the ringing of a bell.

"Somebody definitely likes horror movies." Chara stopped running and stood in front of a tree. He grinned at the charging Monster. "Go ahead, rip me apart. I dare you."

Not even stopping to wonder why Chara would stand still and wait for her, the Red kept running towards him. Her arms were open wide, perhaps to tackle him. A wicked smirk took over her furry pink face.

Then she ran right through Chara and crashed face first into the tree. Howling, the Red began shouting a stream of curses. Chara merely laughed as he took in the swearing cat as she placed a palm over her flat nose.

"I forgot to mention," Chara replied coolly after he stopped laughing, "you can't touch me. Kind of a big part about being nothing more than a soul."

"Soul. The human." The Red cursed again. "This was all a trick!"

"Not a horrible one." Chara shrugged. "I'm still a human soul. I'm just as valuable as the girl's. Actually, I'm probably a lot more valuable to King Asgore than that weakling."

Recognition finally overtook the Red's features. She stared at Chara, eyes traveling up and down his body. Her lips turned downwards in a scowl. "Prince Chara," she greeted as if she was reciting a list of deadly poisons.

"Darcy," Chara returned. He didn't recognize her the first time he saw her, but there was only one person he knew who used that kind of strong language.

"It's been a long time."

"How long?"

The cat-monster narrowed her eyes. "A hundred years."

If Chara still had a beating heart, it would have stopped as he tried and failed to not look surprised. _A hundred years._ "You certainly changed a lot this past century, Darcy."

"While you haven't changed at all. And I go by Mew Mew now."

"Mew Mew? Never mind. Now that you know about me, what do you plan to do?"

"Hmm," Mew Mew swished her tail back and forth, "an excellent question indeed. What do I want to do with you? Well, other than hurt you in all the ways you hurt me."

Chara grimaced. Dying with enemies was bad enough, but having an enemy who spent a century nursing a grudge was so much worse. Perhaps he would finally get what he deserved.

"Hey, you!"

Both Chara and Mew Mew looked towards the direction from which the voice came. Standing ten feet away was Frisk, a tree branch the size of her arms in hand. She didn't look scared as she shouted, "I want my locket back!"

 _That idiot_ or _What does she think she's doing?_ weren't the thoughts that popped into Chara's head at the sight of Frisk. Instead his first thought was, _She came for me._ It was a strange thought that puzzled Chara more than why Frisk would even try to get him back in the first place.

"Nah," Mew Mew said, showing Frisk a taunting smile. "You gave it to me, remember? No givesies backsies."

"I will tear it from your throat if I have to," Frisk threatened, holding the branch up higher.

"Look," Mew Mew began in a way that sounded as if she was looking out for Frisk's best interest, "I don't know why you want to hold onto the soul of Prince Chara," Frisk visibly flinched at the sound of his name, "but I can assure you of this: You're better off without him. Prince Chara and I knew each other when he was alive and I wore a different body; I know full well that he's a liar, a manipulator, and a murderer. Leave him with me. Turn around, and walk away. I'll let you live. No tricks."

For a minute, Frisk seemed to be considering what Mew Mew said. Chara didn't blame her. Mew Mew was right to say that Chara was all those things.

Yet Frisk glared at the cat-monster, gripped the branch tighter, and said, "Chara's a lot of awful things, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just walk away so easily."

"Do you even know the kinds of terrible things he's done?" Mew Mew challenged.

"What does that matter?" Frisk returned. "There's nobody I want to strangle more than Chara, and sometimes I fantasize about throwing the locket into the river just so I never have to see him again. Yet like it or not, Chara and I are in this together. As much as we can't stand each other, there's no way I'm continuing on my quest without him."

"That has to be the nicest thing you have ever said about me, Stripes," Chara said, more surprised than anything. It wasn't until he noticed Frisk's lack of response that he recalled she couldn't hear him while Mew Mew wore the locket or realized that the Red just heard what he said.

"Looks like it warms that cold, dead heart of yours that somebody's willing to give you a chance after all you've done," she taunted Chara. "Reminds me of somebody. Who, who, who? Oh, yes. Your mother."

Chara snarled but said nothing.

"Leave Toriel out of this!" Frisk snapped.

"Oh, that's right," Mew Mew mused, "she raised you too, didn't she? I wonder, Chara, does that make you and this human brother and sister, in a way?"

"Chara is not my brother," Frisk hissed.

"Yet you insist on taking the locket back." Mew Mew giggled. "You truly are Toriel's child. She died to protect you, and now you will die to protect Chara, right?"

Lips quivering, Frisk slowly asked, "How do you know Toriel's dead?"

Chara wished he could drag Frisk away. Or maybe cover her ears. Anything to keep her from hearing the truth.

Grinning wickedly, Mew Mew answered, "I know because I killed her."

Frisk paled whiter than the snow. "No."

"Yes." Mew Mew pulled a knife from her skirt pocket. "And now I'm going to kill you just as I killed her." Mew Mew lunged.

It was habit by this point for Chara to shout at Frisk to get out of the way, but his words were left unheard by the person they were meant for. Fortunately, Frisk anticipated the attack. She side stepped and swung the branch at Mew Mew's head.

Then she proceeded to scream when the head rolled off the body.

Mew Mew laughed, unfazed. "Nice try, human." Her body walked towards her head, picked it up, and placed it back onto her shoulders. Smirking, Mew Mew said, "You can't hurt me while my guard is up. I'm a ghost who has fused with this body, and you can't kill a ghost."

Helpless to do anything other watch as with every other time before, Chara only observed as Frisk and Mew Mew battled. Well, Mew Mew fought while Frisk was on the defensive. Yet the fact she couldn't kill Mew Mew must have been an encouragement of sorts to the pacifist Frisk. Whenever Mew Mew left an opening, Frisk took it and attacked her with the branch as if it was a sword of sorts. Mew Mew's head would occasionally fall off, but all the cat-monster had to do was reattach it, and she would be good as new.

"Aren't you the cutest thing?" Mew Mew giggled, slashing at Frisk with her knife. "You really think you can beat me, don't you? Even the exiled queen was no match for me!"

"Stop talking about Toriel!" Frisk exclaimed, swinging harder in her rage.

"Aw, you don't like that I killed your mommy?"

"Shut up!"

It was gradual, but Chara noticed something inside of Frisk changing. The more Mew Mew mentioned Toriel, the more effort Frisk put into fighting. After seeing Frisk combat with Undyne so many times, Chara could tell when Frisk was getting frustrated. This was not frustration. Frisk's clenched jaw and bulging veins conveyed enough. Sometimes she would scream in rage whenever she swung the branch, hitting Mew Mew hard enough to send her flying.

It wasn't the fact Mew Mew couldn't die that encouraged Frisk to actually fight. It was Frisk's hatred for the monster that fueled her, and Mew Mew's inability to be killed was the greatest cause to Frisk's frustration. For someone like Mew Mew, Toriel's killer, there would be no mercy.

After spending so much time encouraging Frisk to fight, Chara was surprised to see that he didn't like seeing her finally listen to him.

"You are a pesky little thing, aren't you?" Mew Mew hissed, clearly irritated that she could not land a blow on Frisk. "Why don't you just stand still so I can stab you already?!"

"You killed Toriel!" Frisk shouted. "I will never, _ever_ forgive you!"

This time when Frisk knocked off Mew Mew's head, the locket fell off with it.

"NO!" Chara shouted when he noticed what was happening.

Then the world vanished.

* * *

All she could see was red. Toriel's killer was this fluffy, pink cat. A monster who looked so innocent she was bound to be deadly. All talk Frisk previously did on kindness no longer mattered. If she could, she would have killed the cat-monster.

Then the last time Frisk knocked off her head, the locket went flying as well.

"Chara!" Frisk gasped, recalling her reason for chasing after the monster in the first place.

While the monster ran after her head, Frisk sprinted towards the locket. She scooped it up and cradled it to her chest. Had she the time to do so, Frisk would have put the locket back on just then.

"This is the last time you'll knock my head off!" the monster roared before she slashed at Frisk.

As with the previous times, Frisk dodged. Except she was too slow as she tried to keep from losing her grip on the locket. The blade cut through her leggings and sliced her skin. Blood immediately began pooling. It stung far worse than any cut should.

"Aha!" The cat-monster laughed in what had to be relief. "Finally! The blade is coated in deathlust, the very same poison that killed mother dearest. It'll only be a matter of time before it kills you, too."

Frisk barely processed the words. Locket in one hand and branch in the other, Frisk lurched forward and struck the monster in the side. She yelped in pain.

"Perhaps a slit throat is a better ending for you," the monster decided, reaching out for Frisk again.

Reacting, Frisk swung the branch and hit the monster's hand. The knife went flying. Frisk's limbs were quickly growing heavy and her vision blurry, the poison working fast, but there was no way Frisk was going down without a fight.

"Weapon or no," the monster snarled, "I still have something you don't have: Magic!"

Suddenly, Frisk felt she had been divided into two. In her weakening state, she couldn't really describe even to herself what was happening. Her right had different obstacles to dodge than her left. It was difficult trying to keep up when it felt she had two sides to watch out for, especially with the deathlust growing stronger by the second.

Maybe it was an optical illusion. Maybe it was the poison. Maybe one side really did have different things to dodge than the other.

All Frisk knew was she couldn't keep this up much longer.

She cried out in pain when something cut deeply into her arm.

"What?" The monster sounded amused. "Did you really think I only had one knife? Of course, the first one was the only one coated in poison. Can't go accidentally cutting myself with a blade covered in deathlust!"

Risking a quick look away, Frisk saw the sleeve of her sweater had been completely torn. Blood ran down her bicep as it ran down her thigh. The world was growing too dark too fast.

"Come on," the monster swung again and again at the still dodging Frisk, "you should be dead by now. Why the hell aren't you dead yet? What are humans made of?!"

Frisk fought until she could fight no more. Her numb fingers let go of the branch against her will. Her rebellious knees gave out from under her. Even as she collapsed, Frisk still stared at the monster. The world was growing cold, and soon she would be dead, but she would come back ready to knock this monster's head into the river.

"That's more like it." The cat-monster stood over Frisk. She giggled, looking far more innocent than she had any nerve to. "Any last words before I take your and Chara's souls, human?"

If Frisk was still capable of speaking, she would have said something vulgar Toriel would never approve of.

As the world began to vanish, she heard a voice. The monster before her cried out. Holding onto life for one final second, Frisk saw a rabbit monster arrive just in time to take the cat-monster's head off herself.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20**_

Everything hurt. Her skin was on fire. Her joints had blades stuck in them. Her muscles were iron. Frisk waited for the sweet release of death to free her from this excruciating pain, but when it came, relief didn't last before she was alive again and suffered from the deathlust taking over her body.

For the first time in her life, Frisk realized how coming back from the dead was a curse.

She was stuck in the cycle of dying from poison only to come back to die again. It was the worst thing that could have happened to her. Now she was forced to endure this for all eternity, her very own personal Hell.

 _I want to die,_ was the only conscious thought Frisk had as she battled the poison in her system. _I want to die and stay dead._

After countless deaths, the impossible happened.

Frisk died, and she didn't come back.

* * *

She was the only thing that existed in the void.

Yet she knew less about herself than she did about the void.

 _Who am I?_

 _What am I?_

 _When am I?_

 _Where am I?_

 _Why am I?_

Try as she might, she couldn't recall anything. Even her own name was a mystery to her. It was only her, trapped in a sense of emptiness and loneliness deep rooted and painful in the likes she never before knew.

 _This is worse,_ she thought, not knowing what she compared to this isolation. Whatever came before, possibly. _But what came before?_

There was nothing to see. Not even black or darkness. There was nothing to hear, but the silence was deafening. She existed only in a state of pure, submerged nothingness.

 _Am I dead?_

The question came from nowhere. The concept of dead confused her, but only for a minute. Understanding soon followed.

 _I am dead,_ she realized with an intense feeling of sadness. She felt hollow and even more alone than before. _So, this is what it's like to be dead._

If she still had the capability to cry, tears would have begun flowing unrestrained down her cheeks. _This can't be all that's left for me now._ Her soundless words were sucked away into the void, shouted out loud but heard by nobody. _I don't want to die._

Before long, that was all she thought. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._ No words existed except those five.

Then the sense of feeling returned. Her skin was on fire. Her joints had blades stuck in them. Her muscles were iron. Instead of regretting any desire for life, she fought to take hold of what she never wanted to lose again.

 _I don't want to die,_ she thought, gritting her teeth through the pain. Determination swelled up inside her like a balloon, growing bigger and bigger every second as each breath made her stronger and stronger. _I want to live._

As she fought, the pain grew intensely. Yet she didn't let that stop her as she crawled out of the void. She was going to live, and death was not going to hold her back.

It wasn't long before she began to recall who she was and what her life was like. _My name is Frisk. I am the daughter of Toriel, the exiled queen of the Underground. I am a human in a monster world. Nothing, not even death, can stop me._

Frisk didn't know where the lines between life and death met. What she did know was she slowly but surely replaced one unbearable pain for another. Isolation for poison. Loneliness for fire. Death for life.

The friends she made flashed in her mind, each one being another reason to live.

Alice.

Mon.

Papyrus.

Beatrix.

Chara.

A new pain, like a knife stabbing through her heart, ached inside Frisk's chest.

 _Chara._

She was going to live. Frisk was going to live, and nobody was going to stop her. Not while she had reasons to fight.

The physical pain grew worse, but Frisk did not back down. Nothing was going to stop her now that she knew what she wanted. More determined than she had ever been in her entire life and deaths, Frisk cried out as she gave one final push.

Then nothing.

* * *

Everything hurt, but this was a new kind of pain. This didn't feel like an ongoing battle. What Frisk felt seemed to be nothing more than phantom pain, what lingered after the war had been fought.

Opening her eyes, Frisk grimaced as she pushed through the pain in her body to sit up. The room was not familiar. The monster by her bedside was.

"Alice," Frisk whispered, taking in the sleeping rabbit-monster.

Alice rested her chin on her palm and her elbow on the arm rest of the chair. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady. The clothes she wore were rumpled as if she had been wearing them for days straight.

Even as her body protested, Frisk moved herself to a sitting position. Her thigh hurt worst of all. Slowly, she pulled back the covers. The shorts she wore revealed bandages over where she had been cut. Blood stained the gauze. If she were to take off the bandage, Frisk didn't doubt the cut where the deathlust entered her system would be an ugly, unsightly wound.

The next thing she noticed was how thin her legs were. Her knees were not supposed to be this knobby. She observed her hands, the color draining from her face when she saw how skeletal they were. Forcing herself, Frisk ran her fingers down her face and over her body. It felt as if she was nothing more than skin and bones.

 _How long have I been out?_

"Frisk?"

Said girl looked at Alice to see the monster observing her. "Alice," Frisk returned, her voice cracking.

As if she was afraid Frisk would break if she wasn't careful, Alice reached out and placed a hand on Frisk's forehead. When she pulled away, she let out a heavy exhale. Her stiff posture relaxed.

"What happened?" Frisk asked, trying with little success to recall the last thing she remembered.

Alice was slow to answer. She was most likely trying to be as gentle as possible as she told the sickly Frisk what happened to result in this. "You were cut," Alice finally said. "The blade was coated in deathlust. I think you know deathlust has its name for a reason."

"Nobody ever survives deathlust," Frisk whispered, recalling vividly how Toriel died by the very same poison.

"Except you," Alice softly pointed out. "Frisk, you have to be the first person ever to have deathlust enter your system and live."

Not having a response to that, Frisk asked, "How long have I been out?"

It was apparent Alice didn't want to answer. "Ten days."

"What about the others? Did . . . did they make it out of Snowdin Two alive?"

Frisk didn't know it was possible for Alice's ears to droop even more. "Not everyone made it out. However, we are still fortunate. After Mom, Peter, and Doge went after you, they fought the leader until she called a retreat."

The cat-monster's face flashed in Frisk's mind. "She killed my mom," Frisk said so softly she almost didn't hear herself speak. "That Red . . . She killed my mom."

"Oh, Frisk," Alice reached out and took Frisk's hand in hers, "I'm so sorry."

There was nothing for Frisk to say to that. She only held onto Alice's hand, gripping the furry fingers like a lifeline. When Frisk was finally able to work up the courage, she asked, "What about Sans and Papyrus?"

"Alive and well," Alice answered, squeezing Frisk's hand. "They got in, broke out Undyne, and made it back all in one piece. The twins are here with us."

Frisk wanted to know where "here" was, but instead she found herself asking, "And Undyne?"

"Locked away," Alice answered. "She's not hurt or anything, but we're not sure if we can trust her. Frisk, it's weird that you would ask for her to be saved. None of us are sure what she would do if we let her run free."

Not having a response, Frisk merely shrugged. She was tired. Oh so tired. There possibly couldn't have been much strength left in her body. She lied back down, too weak to hold herself up much longer.

Understanding, Alice said, "Get plenty of rest. We'll try to have something for you to eat when you wake up. It could be days before you're able to get out of bed, so please don't push yourself."

"I won't," Frisk promised, her eyelids too heavy for her to hold up anymore.

As she began falling under, Alice slipped something into Frisk's hand. After the soft sound of a closing door indicated that Alice had left the room, Frisk forced one eye to crack open. The red heart locket rested on her palm.

Relief overwhelmed her. With the concern no longer on her mind, Frisk let herself drift away. A smile was on her face as she fell asleep.

* * *

Breaking Undyne out of the royal dungeon was not as exciting as one might expect it would have been. All Sans and Papyrus had to do was teleport into her cell, talk her into coming with them – the task being very easy since Undyne's options literally were either go with the brothers or die, and teleport back out. By the time anyone noticed Undyne was missing, the three were already long gone.

It was the two weeks that followed Sans found difficult.

Frisk spent days battling the effects of deathlust, struggling even with the help of Beatrix's healing magic. Days. Most people died within minutes no matter how many monsters with healing magic tended to them.

Except Frisk wasn't most people.

She was human. Although humans were magicless, they still had something monsters could never have. Determination. The determination to live, to fight the very poison no one before could ever hope to survive, was what kept her alive. It wasn't her being human alone that saved her from death, but her sheer will to fight deathlust and her determination to survive it.

In a way, it was admirable.

Yet in another, Sans felt uneasy.

For the longest time, possibly a month's worth if Sans stopped to count it, the days would keep resetting. Nobody else knew, of course. Yet Sans knew, and he didn't like what this could possibly mean.

"You never came to visit."

Sans looked up from his drink and focused his attention on the doorway. He sat alone in the kitchen, the others long since having retired for the night. Nobody else was supposed to be here, especially her.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Sans asked as Frisk trudged into the room and struggled to sit on the stool next to him.

"I've been bed ridden for two weeks," Frisk answered as she refused to meet Sans in the eyes. "Let me stretch my legs while nobody's around to force me back to bed."

Instead of answering, Sans studied her. Frisk looked more skeleton than human, something Papyrus said confirmed his theory that humans were descended from skeletons. Gone was her rich brown skin, her complexion so deathly white she looked almost like a ghost. Her already oversized shirt, which Beatrix changed Frisk into when the dying Frisk was first brought to the hideout, fit like a pillowcase on her skinny body. Sans didn't know a lot about humans, but he did know they weren't supposed to look anything like this.

"Papyrus visited," Frisk began, counting the names on her fingers. "Mon visited. Beatrix visited. So did Peter and Doge. Alice hardly ever left my side. Even monsters I don't know so well stopped by to check up on me. Everyone but you."

Sans heard the silent "Why?" attached at the end.

"I didn't think you would want to see me." Sans picked up his glass to drain it, but his arm froze with his drink just an inch from his face. He set it back down. "I have proven myself to be untrustworthy, and that kind of betrayal isn't something a simple 'sorry' can fix."

"Yes, but it does help to say 'sorry' in the first place." Sans looked at Frisk. She studied him with her large brown eyes. No judgement was visible in them. "You didn't do anything you didn't already say you were going to do. You made it clear from the start that you were only going to watch out for me so far. I'm the one who pushed that boundary."

"So you're not upset?" Sans asked, not knowing why he did.

"No, I'm still upset at you," Frisk answered, "but you listened to my pleas to save Undyne when you had every reason not to. I can't fault you for that much."

Now Sans drained his drink. "I don't know what you plan for us to do to that fish," he told her. "Nobody here trusts her, and it's not as if she's sworn loyalty to the Blues either."

"Neither have you," Frisk pointed out. "You're still wearing red."

"Maybe it's because I look better in red than I do in blue."

Frisk narrowed her eyes, her only indication that she didn't believe him.

Waving a hand in the air, Sans merely said, "Think what you want. I don't care. But I'm not going to give away your hiding place, if that's what you're worried about."

"That never crossed my mind," Frisk replied, and Sans believed her.

Knowing he had to say it sooner or later, Sans finally let the words fall out. "I'm sorry." He didn't say what for. Frisk knew what he was apologizing for, and he was not going to say the words aloud even if she didn't.

"I forgive you," Frisk replied, speaking the words as if this was something she had decided a long time ago. Perhaps he had her forgiveness even if he never apologized, but Frisk was right to mention that it did help to say sorry.

"Now what?" Sans asked, studying Frisk from the corner of his eye socket.

"Find a goal, strategize, and try to reach that goal," Frisk answered.

"If only it was that easy."

"I think that depends on the goal we all decide for ourselves." With a sigh, Frisk wiggled off the stool and stood on her shaky feet again. "I'm going to bed. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Sans only half faked amusement. "We do?"

"We have to figure out what we're going to do sooner or later, and I think we've waited long enough already." Frisk began walking away. "Good night, Sans."

For half a moment, Sans debated requesting she wait. He had a theory, and he wanted to test it out. Yet as he saw her tremble through her walking motion, he decided to wait for a more opportune time. What just happened was the first step in restoring their relationship, whatever it was. No sense in ruining it right away.

So, as coolly as he could make himself sound, Sans simply replied to the retreating human, "Good night, Frisk."

* * *

While she talked to Sans, Frisk did not wear the locket. Yet after she claimed to be going to bed and left the skeleton to his own devices, Frisk put the locket back around her neck. She would want Chara's company for this.

When she woke up sometime after Alice put the locket in her palm, Frisk wore it to see Chara again. He took one look at her and knew something really bad had happened to her after the locket fell off the Red, whose name Chara supplied to be Mew Mew. Struggling to remember all the details, Frisk told him about being cut by the blade coated in poison and how she had died many, many times because of deathlust.

Slowly, Frisk recounted dying and staying dead. How truly terrible death was, how isolated and empty it felt. She shivered as she recalled those intense feelings, and Chara actually looked horrified as Frisk told him what death was really like.

She then told him about how she realized she didn't want to die and her determination to live. Fingers curled into fists, Frisk told him about her battle as well as she could. It was difficult telling someone about an experience no words could ever accurately describe.

The whole time she told Chara all this, he nodded to show he was listening. He had no comments, even after Frisk finished telling him everything. Maybe there was nothing he could say to respond so he didn't bother trying.

After that, things were different between them. Frisk didn't know what had changed, but something did. It was like walking into a room and knowing one thing or another was off but not being able to figure out what.

"The coast is clear," Chara, who had walked ahead, informed Frisk as he came back. "Are you sure you really want to do this, Stripes?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Frisk replied, walking on shaky legs as she made her way through the tunnel. She had to do this now before she lost her nerve, and before anyone else knew what she was doing.

"I honestly can't decide if this is the bravest thing you have ever done or the stupidest," Chara said as they walked side-by-side through the darkness.

"The stupidest," Frisk didn't hesitate to reply, "but I'm not backing down. I've thought long and hard about it. This is what I want."

"Are you sur she's going to agree?"

"Of course not, but I won't know for sure unless I ask."

As they got closer to their destination, Frisk heard what sounded like a ball being thrown against a wall repeatedly. It appeared she and Sans weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep. She hoped the latter wouldn't get wise and decide to come down here.

"Well, well, well," a voice growled as Frisk came into sight. "Look who's here. I didn't think I would be seeing you ever again."

"That makes two of us." Frisk knelt down so she could make direct eye contact with the prisoner. "I have a favor to ask of you."

Undyne barked a laugh. " _You_ want to ask _me_ for a favor? Look who you're talking to, human. Do you really think I would do anything for you?"

"No," Frisk admitted, "but I was the one who insisted Sans and Papyrus save your life, so you do kind of owe me."

"Don't say 'kind of,'" Chara corrected. "Talk as if she's indebted to you. Make her believe she has no other choice but to repay you for your mercy."

"You owe me," Frisk said, taking Chara's advice to heart. "You have your life, now help me get something in return."

Smirking, Undyne asked, "What do you want that I can give you?"

"More than you realize," Frisk answered. "Mew Mew killed my mom. I want revenge."

Undyne did nothing to hide her peaked curiosity. "So, are you asking me to kill Mew Mew?"

"No." Frisk clutched the prison bars so tightly her knuckles turned ash white. " _I_ want to kill Mew Mew. You're going to be the one to train me to do it."

* * *

 **End of Part One**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Y'all know I don't write author's notes often, so you can assume there's going to be some news to this. I have both good and bad.**

 **Good: This chapter officially wraps up the Snowdin arc!**

 **Bad: This is the last update for the calendar year. . . . Yeah.**

 **Due to health reasons, this story, as well as my other works, kind of fell by the wayside. I mean I obviously picked them back up, but during that time there was a prolonged hiatus. Also during that time my writing interests did alter slightly.**

 **Now before you start panicking that I'm going to drop this story, I'm not going to discontinue _The Locket._ Repeat: I AM _NOT_ DISCONTINUING _THE LOCKET_. I'm only taking a break to focus on some other projects I want to start and not overwhelm myself in the process. _The Locket_ while resume sometime in the winter after the new year, preferably after I finish drafting two of my current WIPs.**

 **As for what's to come in Part Two, here are some things I have in mind! (Because this isn't outlined yet, plans may alter or change altogether.)**

 **Part Two will be titled "The Warrior."**

 **Waterfall will be the new setting.**

 **Frisk and Sans will try to mend their friendship.**

 **Frisk and Chara try to be . . . friends? Frenemies? They'll definitely try to be somewhat decent to each other.**

 **Undyne and Frisk mentor relationship of sorts.**

 **A new enemy has appeared!**

 **Another new enemy has appeared!**

 **Potential romance, maybe?**

 **Flowey will exist again, because I forgot he was a character so dude disappeared. Oopsie.**

 **Sorry for the wait, but I hope you'll stick around for the continuation of this AU! I love you all so much!**

 **\- Fantastical**


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